"You should have your tongue ripped out": the reality of sexist abuse online. newstatesman.com/blogs/helen-le…- @indiaknight I'm shocked that you're not shocked, in a way. Don't you get that sort of abuse?
@helenlewis Never on here and I don't read the comments on Times website. Will start when name, address, photograph. But ++- @helenlewis I would imagine those sorts of comments are absent or moderated out. I really am properly AGOG. Rape? WTF?
- @indiaknight My worry is that it has a chilling effect on the grassroots - tomorrow's female columnists, politicians, activists.
- @helenlewis Absolutely. I'd have lasted three minutes with that kind of abuse, on basis nothing is worth that & life too short.
@helenlewis As the anon contributor said, those of us who're starting out are just incredibly careful about what we say & how we say it
@helenlewis People can be exceptionally cruel, especially emboldened by anonymity. I hadn't considered gender grounds. Interesting read.
@helenlewis interesting piece. I've been writing online in various ways since 1994 and have only ever had one serious incident of abuse.
@helenlewis Friends are always shocked by what goes on under Cif pieces I've written. It seems normal to me now & I can brush the personal…- @helenlewis stuff off, but some of it (weird speculation about how much sex I have etc) makes me seethe, & is basically humiliating. Often…
- @helenlewis I'll challenge abusive types, with surprisingly positive results sometimes. But I think ultimately it means I write less.
I'm genuinely surprised by the shocked response to @helenlewis's piece from male tweeters. I thought we all knew about online misogyny.
@helenlewis Ongoing prob. most abuse I've had "mild" - e.g. get back in kitchen, tho tagged in obscene pics. Friends have had rape threats.
@helenlewis thank you for writing that. I did CiF post on abortion counselling under real name & worried for weeks about the abuse I'd get
@helenlewis In Australia was threatened with rape face to face as only woman in newsroom. The more female bloggers the better
@helenlewis It's too easy to get into mind-set of "maybe they're right, I'm being over-sensitive", but it's NOT just me being over-sensitive
@MissEllieMae @helenlewis We male tweeters/bloggers need to be regularly reminded of the reality of online misogyny. (1/2)- @MissEllieMae @helenlewis If we don't see the reality, or more to the point don't experience it, it's hard to understand the impact (2/2)
@helenlewis I just berated a tweeter I vaguely know for casual sexism and he replied 'Bit harsh?' Because misogyny's harmless fun, right?- @MissEllieMae @helenlewis it is as it ever was: some men do not believe feminism is needed because it is not an issue for them.
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