One of the previous community posters has been flooded with trolls, our mods are working on blocking them but after the initial ire I felt at the attack died down... I started to giggle.
I'd seen troll floods before, mainly on some feminist game blogs. At least that I can kind of get. I get worked up about video games, I know they're not the most pressing feminist issue but anime and video games are things I love so I love to talk about them and their flaws. So I can kind of get the petty desire to flood comments with 'you just don't get it' 'it's not really that sexist/racist' etc. I don't agree but I can get it, it's a fandom.
But just down the page a flood of trolls descending on one person.... talking about people in her life expressing sexist, homophobic and generally bigoted views.
Seriously? That's what's getting random troll's ire these days? Jees at least the Gaming trolls are passionate about an interest, not just spewing bile because they saw an opinionated video on youtube (*gasp*) and decided to hound the creator for a while.
Then I thought about them all being on one site feeding on each other's nastyness over something that didn't even affect them. I started giggling, and I giggle even more at the thought of these trolls searching youtube for 'feminist' just to leave a SAMICH comment.
Good ol bile spewing trolls, reminding us that there are a lot of sexist ass holes out there and making asses of themselves at the same time XD
Now excuse me while I put a paper bag over my obviously ugly face and go stand in the kitchen for a while/snark
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I always assume that they have little tiny peepees, and this is why they feel such a strong need to act like assholes and assert their dominance in any way they can. That way instead of getting angry I just kind of feel sorry for them, becuase it really must be hard to live in a culture that puts so much emphasis on size and makes you feel like you have to compensate in any way possible if you don't "measure up."
I'm always surprised by how small penis is used as a default insult toward men by people here. I wonder if they think about the consequences of what they're saying.
You've given yourself a nice defensible position with your little qualification, but you're still correlating "little tiny peepee" with "asshole", and I'm not sure you can tell me that calling it that isn't supposed to be implicitly degrading. No one could say with a straight face, "I think men with little tiny peepee's deserve more respect in our culture."
Right, I agree that using the default "little tiny peepee" approach is a bit immature and ... whatever.
I guess to me it's sort of become a metaphorical thing. I often encounter men who behave in this inexplicably aggressive manner, both in person and online. I used to puzzle over them. In high school it was usually guys who were threatened by the fact that I'm tall and athletic and don't inhabit my physical space in the semi-apologetic manner that tall women are supposed to. In college it was often men who had come on to me but that I had shown no interest in. In fact, this is still the form that this kind of confrontation usually takes, generally in the bar setting. Online it's often men who feel threatened by a position you're arguing for, or the fact that you're more articulate than they are. So I guess these all have in common the theme of behaving like an asshole because you're feeling threatened. The metaphor comes in when you observe that men generally behave this way when their masculinity has been challenged in some way. So now I lump them all together under "little tiny peepee" which is code for "fragile ego, easily threatened." And this helps deflect the hurt I might feel over the fact that my physical mode of existence, taste in men, and/or the fact that I can put together a coherent thought is so offensive to certain men. When you politely turn some guy down who has been following you around the bar all night and refusing to take a hint, and then he says "cunt" as you walk away, it helps if you can shrug your shoulders and say "little tiny peepee."
But you're right, it's not very respectful and I should find a new metaphor or symbolic way to dismiss this kind of behavior.
I don't want to get in the gutter alongside said "troll" though I understand the urge. My thoughts were that it wasn't a bunch probably just one poor, lonely soul in desperate need of..well, something, anything...who made up many personas, passwords, emails. That registration must have taken a lot of time and effort. And all for the benefit of us feminists. We stand in really esteemed company(sarcasm). My only real care in the matter is that no one internalizes any of the that nonsense and everyone keeps on saying what we think regardless of a fellow human being's very clever use of words like cunt, samich, bitch, etc. Sometimes it's refreshing to see the "other" side and be reaffirmed in our beliefs.
Also, the need to point out how much you're not bothered makes me suspicious.
Let's back up a bit. I never said I wasn't bothered. Because I didn't call them names doesn't mean I am not bothered. I just am not letting it get me angry and/or focused on that person's troubled beliefs.I'd rather acknowledge it and point out what in the case of the "trolls" is an obvious attack devoid of any intelligent thought. I think the posts were a baiting of sorts. If you bite in a way that mirrors that which we find unintelligent and dangerous then they've succeeded. If you calmly and intelligently argue against their nastiness then they've failed. I understand the anger. After I read the first comment my heart sank. But that is as much of my energy I am willing to give towards the nonsense that was posted.
As the one who was trolled, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty fucking frightened at first. I found a thread on the infamous site 4chan devoted to people trying to hack my accounts on various websites. Someone managed to get my real name, my phone number, my address, and a picture of my house.(It now looks like the picture just happened to be on google maps).
But then I realized that they were really just trying to screw with me. And who is more pathetic: The teenager who talks to the webcam or the adults who harass her for shits and giggles? I may be a little biased, but I have to vote them. It's pretty much been determined that they aren't local, and we've reported to it to the police, who are keeping an eye on our neighborhood, etc. We're screening our calls. And it looks like it's beginning to wear off since that thread was deleted. I'm guessing things will be back to normal within a week. Like doubleb said, we can't let it control us. They want that power, and we shouldn't give it to them.
That's 4chan for you. :(
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Thanks, but I honestly could care less about them. They are apparently adults, yet all they spend all there time online, harassing a sixteen year old girl who posted a video that had nothing to do with them, but pissed them off anyways. And they don't even bother to try and politely disprove me. Almost all the comments were "FAT CUNT DYKE KIKE WHORE MAKE ME SAMMICH."
They're not creative. They are not clever. They have got some brains when it comes to hacking, I'll give them that. But they obviously do not have a life outside of this site. They do not have a life out of a sad attempt to control people who have nothing to do with them. And it's sad. Because most people live outside the internet, because no self-respecting woman is going to go to bed with them, and because they aren't about to control me. I really do hope that most of these people grow out of this stage in their life and go on to live happy, healthy lives. Because that can not be fun for anyone.
/rant
omg I love you!
/hug
Okay, but seriously, I wrote a post on Feministing a loooong time ago (which sort of, but not completely, got trolled). I play World of Warcraft, as do most of my friends, and it's difficult for me to put up with the general immaturity you encounter on a game like that. People tell you repeatedly to ignore it, but as a feminist, that's difficult to do. As a person who obviously enjoys media, it's difficult for you to overlook the sexism you perceive within it. Good for you. Your final comment is what really just made me LOL... yes, the theory is as such: "there are no girls on the internet." corollary: "if there are girls on the internet, they are fat and ugly, and should make me a sammich!"
Continue to laugh at the trolls. I should take advice from you and try to laugh, too. It's hard sometimes, when trade chat decides it's going to be a veritable salon for discussing Sarah Palin's fake porn.
I used to play WoW myself. While some of my reasons for quitting included my short attention span and impatience, the environment was the main one. My brother, a teenage boy(who by cultural stereotypes should revel in that kind of stuff) couldn't stand it. Then again, he is a very mature, pro-feminist teenage male. So maybe he is not the best example.
But I digress. I give you my sympathy. As much as I love gaming, I can no longer be involved in the community because of the disrespect I see at every turn. Hopefully there will soon be a bigger, more accessible feminist gaming community, like the one I have found in comics. Best of luck!
I recently started playing WoW. I haven't seen much in the way of abuse going on - but on the other hand, I haven't seen all that much in the way of community in general, either.