The ugly side of sex and the Web

Sierra's haters -- and the man behind the hate, in my friend's case -- are doing this not because they're immature. They're doing it because they want women out of their worlds. Every female tech and sex writer I have contact with knows this -- every girl whose work has been Dugg, Slashdotted or commented on in a forum that allows trolls to fester. When someone goes this far, to make death imagery and maintain a 24/7 hate blog, we're not talking about a lack of social skills, we're talking about a desire to destroy. These are the same kind of acts of sexual hatred that Patrick Califia wrote about in his essay about the sex-murder of transgender teen Gwen Araujo in "Sex With the Imperfect Stranger":

"This strategy relies on widespread social acceptance of the belief that this is what straight men are supposed to do when their heterosexual identities are threatened. They are supposed to murder in defense of their masculinity. Because if one of them doesn't do this, if he does not violently repudiate the possibility that he found it pleasurable to have sexual contact with someone who was not born female, then he must be queer himself."

Quote from: LostInTime on March 29, 2007, 08:16:44 AM
"This strategy relies on widespread social acceptance of the belief that this is what straight men are supposed to do when their heterosexual identities are threatened. They are supposed to murder in defense of their masculinity. Because if one of them doesn't do this, if he does not violently repudiate the possibility that he found it pleasurable to have sexual contact with someone who was not born female, then he must be queer himself."

Exactly.

Or more accurately: they fear that unless they protest violently, *other* people might think they're queer.

Kate

Well,

we have to remember that in the "world of men," at large in our society, women always have been second-class citizens, and in the eyes of many, always will be. So, it should come as no surprise, that as women "invade" more and more places where men dwell, and those men feel more and more pressured to perform, that eventually it would spill out as hate if they reach a point where they feel inadequate in comparison to a woman.

Men are highly competitive animals -- that's a given! And now that they have to compete with women on an even basis -- no advantages due to physical differences, real or perceived  -- I think they feel like the rug has been pulled out from underneath them?
Women have always had to compete with everyone else to get ahead in the world. Men are coming to terms with this new sociological fact, and some are not coping well at all.

The result?  hate crimes like this one.

QuoteThe question is, Do we women need to portray ourselves as victims to garner support when men threaten to defile our corpses if we gain notoriety?

The answer is of course. The hate spewed against them is a form of hazing.  I've heard it a million times -- "Can you take it?"  Or, "if you can't handle the pressure, why don't you run home and cry?"  It is nothing more than a childish attempt to put the females in their proper place -- i.e. behind men.

Disclaimer:  This is not a hate-fest against the guys here. But, you have to realize that this is the reality for most women -- to be harrassed and whatnot by your chosen gender. I am not saying that you fall into these categories of behaviour. But I am saying, that if y'all want to change the perceptions of how men react/relate/mistreat women, you have your work cut out for you.

I always thought that there was something fishy about waffles.

I don't know this person, but I'm trying to figure out what's going on. The threats are what I find disturbing for two reasons. First, because even though this is the Internet there is no way to be sure it was not a serious threat. Second, because whoever is stupid enough to do this and then make it a veiled version of it under their 'real' name is also a total nub imho. Plus, the fact they're all scared of 'queer' people is just pathetic. It's just your typical insecure ninnies unable to grasp that reality is not under their command in regards to what other people do with their own lives who won't leave other people well alone.

Frankly, I hope they go through and sue the tards into oblivion.

-- Bridget