For those of you who were in a coma all of last week, the internet recently took up arms against one Melissa Bachman, a professional hunter from the USA who came to South Africa recently. The reason for this outpouring of rage and stupidity? This photo:
Image courtesy of Daily Maverick
Now, I’m not going to be discussing the ethics of Bachman’s actions. That’s already been debated ad nauseam and besides, that’s not why I created this blog. Instead, I’d like to focus on the nature of the… *ahem* “criticism” that was levelled at her following the publication of that unfortunate image.
The following is just a sample of the things said about Bachman on Twitter. Take a deep breath before you read the next few lines. Ready? Okay, here we go:
“I hope that c**nt gets vaginal herpes and dies”
“A disgusting disgrace to the human race.”
“If I come across her I’ll rip off her f**king face”
Wow. Just… wow. I think a part of my soul actually died just writing that.
Once you’re done losing your faith in humanity, take a closer look at those comments. Do you notice anything (I mean besides the disgusting hatred for all that is good and pure)?
Notice that none of the comments actually mention the fact that Bachman killed a lion. Seriously, not one. Instead, they jump straight in to not only insulting her, but openly threatening her with violence.
This isn’t something that’s unique to just Bachman. In 2009, a woman by the name of Anita Sarkeesian posted a series of videos on her video blog Feminist Frequency about the treatment of women in video games.
The response was, like in Bachman’s case, disturbingly violent. The comment section on her YouTube account was flooded with hateful comments, degrading comments and even death threats, images of Sarkeesian being subject to violent and degrading actions flooded social media sites, and – in what will surely go down in history as one of the lowest points of us as a species – a flash game was posted on Newgrounds where players could assault Sarkeesian’s face.
So, between Bachman and Sarkeesian, what is the one thing they have in common? Answer: they’re women.
Thanks to a combination of anonymity and large audience, the internet acts as a giant microphone pointed at the rest of the world. This is why people who still subscribe to Dark-Age ideas about women, race and sexuality are able to say the kinds of things that, if said in public, would land them in jail.
The internet has the opportunity to be something wonderful, a technology that can unite others on a never-before-seen scale. At the same time, it can be a tool to further enforce negative stereotypes and further repressive ideologies. It’s up to all of us to make sure we use it in a way that benefits us all.
Happy International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
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A wonderful opinion piece from Daily Maverick which also looks at the disgusting and sexist responses to Bachman’s photograph
Also, check out Anita Sarkeesian’s video blog Feminist Frequency when you get the chance. There’s a link in the page “Blogs I follow”.
I think that you’re being one sided about the whole thing. You fail to mention how so many MALE celebrities are also attacked, and looked at as objects.
Michael Fassbender had to publicly come out and ask people to stop talking about his dick, due to how it was shown in the movie Shame.
See here—> http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/10/fassbender-doesnt-like-this-talk-about-his-junk.html
Another celebrity very much hated on is Russell Brand. Singled out for his accent, background and “out there” views, people have taken to tweeted things like:
1.) Russell Brand looks like a fuckin stick insect in drag with a beard, that’s why I hate the chimp.
2.) Wot a fukin prick. Get a shave u little dick
Both using derogatory language to describe a male.
On the note of gaming though, being a woman gamer myself, the people online are horrible people to men or women. Having played as both male and female, I got my fair share of hate. There really was no discrimination- if you’re better than the opponent, they’re going to hate on you either way.
What that woman did was inexcusable though, and all the hate that she is getting is well-deserved.
Firstly, thanks for raising the whole “men as objects” argument. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while and will probably be in a post pretty soon.
I’m not denying that men don’t get it bad online – my point is that women tend to get the worst the beating most of the time.
For example, those quotes you gave. Notice that, while they are derogatory, they are basically just playground insults. At no point do they threaten their targets with violence or harm.
The main point of my article was that the attacks on women online are almost always gender-related and tend to come down to the fact that they just happen to be women.
One last thing – no one, not even Melissa Bachman, deserves to be constantly threatened with violence, rape or death, no matter what they did.
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