Female Pundits, And The Rudeness Of Moonbats
It is a rather slow day today for news. Thus far, while meandering around the news wires and blogosphere, nothing has really caught my eye. Of course, I am also trying to study here while doing all the work on the computer. I came across this post from See-Dubya @ Hot Air,and I was intrigued.
The WaPo notices that people are sometimes rather rude to women who write online. They write in depth about the death threats against Kathy Sierra, and even make it around to mentioning Michelle’s unpleasant history of threats and slurs.
Some female bloggers say their colleagues just need thicker skin. Columnist Michelle Malkin, who blogs about politics and culture, said she sympathizes with Sierra but has chided the bloggers expressing outrage now. “First, where have y’all been? For several years, the unhinged Internet underworld has been documented here,” she wrote, reposting a comment on her site that called for the “torture, rape, murder” of her family.
Report the serious threats to law enforcement, she urged. And above all: “Keep blogging. Don’t cut and run.”
But Herring said Malkin is in a minority. “There’s a whole bunch of women who are being intimidated,” she said. They include academics, professional programmers and other women normally unafraid to speak their minds.
Saying your colleagues “just need thicker skin” sounds a little brutal under the circumstances, and that’s not what Michelle said. “Expressing sympathy” for the victim and urging her to keep blogging is supportive, not dismissive. It doesn’t minimize the threat or Sierra’s reaction to it; the threats are outrageous and shouldn’t have to be tolerated by anyone.
Luckily, I have never had to deal with any sort of threats. That is not to say that we do not get our share of "fan mail" from unhinged mmonbats and trolls. We receive that daily, and it is always filled with the vitriolic hate and fould language we have become accustomed to. There are rare instances where one or two pieces come through that are not like that, and the writer truly wishes to have an open, civil dialogue. But as I said, those are rare instances.
I did not start blogging until 2004 when Thomas (in an effort to curb my continued e-mails that were about the size of a blog post) encouraged me to start my own site. In January of 2005, Thomas and I joined our two sites together to create this one -- The Asylum. During that time, I have been critiqued by a host of individuals. I have been defamed and called all sorts of names. I have not, however, been threatened. (This is due, in no small part, to Thomas keeping us where we are in the blogosphere; small fish rarely have big fish problems.)
The point is that if you decide to stick your neck out here, for all the world to see and read, then you do so with the understanding that this is not an echo chamber. The people will be nasty and vile if they dislike what you have to say. Ann Coulter famously remarked in her book "Slander" that "political debate in this country is insufferable." Indeed it is, and it has rapidly devolved into nasty snarking fests and one-upmanship contests. Very rarely can we come across a debate on the Internet where one side or the other does not hurl a slur before the debate is over.
"Grom ticker skin" is a point that is well-founded. In the realm of politics, you cannot take every little slight and blow it completely out of proportion. You have to learn to roll with the punches, and pick yourself back up if you get knocked down. However, if it comes down to threats that you feel are significant and serious, then take Michelle's advice, and contact the authorities. Contact your Internet service provider and let them know that you are experiencing physical threats.
I know it sounds stupid and childish, almost like "tattling," but there have been reported cases where some people have lost their monds, and gone hunting for some bloggers because they just do not like their opinion, analysis, or what have you. They are rare (as rare as a civil dialogue in our e-mails with some on the Left), but it does not make them any less dangerous when the unhinged decide to take out their frustrations on an unsuspecting person. Anonymity within the Internet is a good protective resource. It, however, does not always work as there are ways to locate and track people across the Internet.
I thanks God and my husband that we have yet to face any sort of threats like those that the big fish have had to endure. And I hope we never do.
Marcie
The WaPo notices that people are sometimes rather rude to women who write online. They write in depth about the death threats against Kathy Sierra, and even make it around to mentioning Michelle’s unpleasant history of threats and slurs.
Some female bloggers say their colleagues just need thicker skin. Columnist Michelle Malkin, who blogs about politics and culture, said she sympathizes with Sierra but has chided the bloggers expressing outrage now. “First, where have y’all been? For several years, the unhinged Internet underworld has been documented here,” she wrote, reposting a comment on her site that called for the “torture, rape, murder” of her family.
Report the serious threats to law enforcement, she urged. And above all: “Keep blogging. Don’t cut and run.”
But Herring said Malkin is in a minority. “There’s a whole bunch of women who are being intimidated,” she said. They include academics, professional programmers and other women normally unafraid to speak their minds.
Saying your colleagues “just need thicker skin” sounds a little brutal under the circumstances, and that’s not what Michelle said. “Expressing sympathy” for the victim and urging her to keep blogging is supportive, not dismissive. It doesn’t minimize the threat or Sierra’s reaction to it; the threats are outrageous and shouldn’t have to be tolerated by anyone.
Luckily, I have never had to deal with any sort of threats. That is not to say that we do not get our share of "fan mail" from unhinged mmonbats and trolls. We receive that daily, and it is always filled with the vitriolic hate and fould language we have become accustomed to. There are rare instances where one or two pieces come through that are not like that, and the writer truly wishes to have an open, civil dialogue. But as I said, those are rare instances.
I did not start blogging until 2004 when Thomas (in an effort to curb my continued e-mails that were about the size of a blog post) encouraged me to start my own site. In January of 2005, Thomas and I joined our two sites together to create this one -- The Asylum. During that time, I have been critiqued by a host of individuals. I have been defamed and called all sorts of names. I have not, however, been threatened. (This is due, in no small part, to Thomas keeping us where we are in the blogosphere; small fish rarely have big fish problems.)
The point is that if you decide to stick your neck out here, for all the world to see and read, then you do so with the understanding that this is not an echo chamber. The people will be nasty and vile if they dislike what you have to say. Ann Coulter famously remarked in her book "Slander" that "political debate in this country is insufferable." Indeed it is, and it has rapidly devolved into nasty snarking fests and one-upmanship contests. Very rarely can we come across a debate on the Internet where one side or the other does not hurl a slur before the debate is over.
"Grom ticker skin" is a point that is well-founded. In the realm of politics, you cannot take every little slight and blow it completely out of proportion. You have to learn to roll with the punches, and pick yourself back up if you get knocked down. However, if it comes down to threats that you feel are significant and serious, then take Michelle's advice, and contact the authorities. Contact your Internet service provider and let them know that you are experiencing physical threats.
I know it sounds stupid and childish, almost like "tattling," but there have been reported cases where some people have lost their monds, and gone hunting for some bloggers because they just do not like their opinion, analysis, or what have you. They are rare (as rare as a civil dialogue in our e-mails with some on the Left), but it does not make them any less dangerous when the unhinged decide to take out their frustrations on an unsuspecting person. Anonymity within the Internet is a good protective resource. It, however, does not always work as there are ways to locate and track people across the Internet.
I thanks God and my husband that we have yet to face any sort of threats like those that the big fish have had to endure. And I hope we never do.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:01 PM
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