An absolute regression for women in the public eye

(written by lawrence krubner, however indented passages are often quotes). You can contact lawrence at: lawrence@krubner.com, or follow me on Twitter.

Interesting:

This does not get round the central point of what Cooper was saying, though. She was talking about the misogyny that is aimed at women of all political persuasions. She did not, she said, want to see the severed head of Theresa May carried at demonstrations. The linking of social media abuse to actual violence is pertinent, and after the murder of Jo Cox, it’s all too real.

The online surveillance of women’s images alongside the silencing of their voices is now a fraught part of our environment, with real effects. I know many prominent women who will not go on TV as they can’t take the abuse they will inevitably receive, not about just their views, but about their desirability/class/race, and so on.

This is an absolute regression for women in the public eye. Is it acceptable to say to any young woman with a view and a voice that you have to wade through a barrage of horrible personal insults every day, as this is the price you pay for having a voice at all?

This is the river in which we now swim. How can we stop a river flowing? Perhaps by listening to what is being said. Believing those who say they have been abused. Not thinking one form of abuse counters another. Some of us keep waving but some of us are drowning in the murk.

Post external references

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    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/10/drowning-vitriol-price-women-pay-politics-online-abuse-yvette-cooper
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