jet_lagg wrote:Was wondering if Strawberry bitch was a troll or not. Hoping not. We could use a few genuine SJWs around here to keep our arguments sharp.
But the problem with just dropping a quote from Elyse's blog is that people like me read it & think, "Yeah, that is ridiculous; I see why you posted that here, Guest nymed Strawberry Bitch." If SB had hoped for a different reaction, IMO it would have helped if SB had explained her/his views, reason for posting it, etc.
I've put the actual link in SB's post as quoted below; that link works for me.
Strawberry Bitch wrote:http://www.elyseanders.com/blog/2015/7/ ... -on-speech
Trolling is an assault on women. It is an organized weapon of terrorism used to silence feminist voices. The abuse is a mob attack, flooding our inboxes and comments Twitter mentions and Facebook pages, so that there is nowhere we can go online without seeing how little the world thinks of us. How little the world wants us to exist. It is an act of terrorism designed to force us into facing that, more of that, escalating levels of that… or being silent. It is an act of war against feminism. And if you do not relent, they will not only come after you, but your family, your friends, your job. Their goal is not only to drive you into silence, but to wipe your presence from the earth.
Shall we unpack this?
Elyse Anders wrote:Trolling is an assault on women.
No, actually, trolling is not a gendered term. You can provide another definition if you like, but let's try this from dictionary.com:
Digital Technology, Informal.
- to post inflammatory or inappropriate messages or comments on (the Internet, especially a message board) for the purpose of upsetting other users and provoking a response.
- to upset or provoke (other users) by posting such messages or comments
Turns out if you search (w/o quotes) "trolling feminist definition" some of
what turns up is
stuff about feminists trolling others (admirably, from Jezebel's point of view). Oops!
Elyse Anders wrote:It is an organized weapon of terrorism used to silence feminist voices.
"Organized weapon of terrorism"? If you mean that & have evidence, you should definitely contact the FBI. Otherwise that sounds like 4 metric tons of hyperbole.
Elyse Anders wrote:The abuse is a mob attack, flooding our inboxes and comments Twitter mentions and Facebook pages, so that there is nowhere we can go online without seeing how little the world thinks of us.
If you're talking about actual
harassment & stalking, do report it to whichever authorities are most appropriate. But if you're talking about "push back" & disagreement, please know that everyone (of any gender) who puts their viewpoints out in a public space gets some of that, and the speed & reach of the reaction is magnified many-fold on the internet. It's been suggested that one key is how you react to it.
Elyse Anders wrote:How little the world wants us to exist.
Hold it. Most of the world is fine with women existing, though in more patriarchal societies women's roles are far more limited than in the one in which you're
privileged to live, and to have access to the public spaces of the internet, and to have freedom of speech.
Besides which, regarding "want[ing] us to exist": in some countries
female feticide and even
infanticide occurs & certainly would support a claim there that the lives of girls & women are far less valued and, indeed, some in those countries don't "wan[t them] to exist".
But since you don't live in one of those countries...and you made it past birth & infancy...that probably doesn't apply to you or your peers.
Elyse Anders wrote:It is an act of terrorism designed to force us into facing that, more of that, escalating levels of that… or being silent.
Terrorism? Again, please report it to the FBI if you are serious. Here's the FBI tips & reporting page:
https://tips.fbi.gov/
Elyse Anders wrote:It is an act of war against feminism.
No, it isn't - certainly not against "dictionary feminism". In fact, being trolled just like anyone else on the internet would argue that equality is nigh - a cause for celebration! (Can't find it now, but there was a survey last year that found women tend to receive more sexually explicit comments than men, but men tend to get more threats of violence, so it seemed like a pretty even playing field.)
Elyse Anders wrote:And if you do not relent, they will not only come after you, but your family, your friends, your job.
Like I said above, if you're talking about actual stalking or harassment, that could be not only scary but illegal: document & report it. If you're talking about people online who go after other people's jobs as a punitive measure, then yes I agree, that's egregious behavior.
Elyse Anders wrote:Their goal is not only to drive you into silence, but to wipe your presence from the earth.
More hyperbole. Maybe it feelz that way, but that mostly suggests your calibration is off. In fact, take a look
here and
here and
here if you'd like to see some groups that are having their presence (as individuals) "wipe[d]...from the earth" at a faster rate than you & your peers.
____________
Finally: have Ms Anders' experiences that she'd consider harassment & silencing occurred only at the hands of people widely regarded as "anti-feminists"
*? Or, could it be that she has experienced behavior she'd consider harassment from other women - her peers - who identify as, & would be widely identified as, feminists? :whistle:
*though of course for most "trolls" their actual viewpoints don't come into play, they're just going for a reaction