I know this topic has been written about again and again and again, but I repeat: I am utterly disgusted by the way in which internet forums suddenly become the place for men *TRIGGER WARNING*
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to throw around rape "jokes" and rape threats like water and then threaten any poster who complains, even before they identify as female, as the usual "cunt" "whore" "feminist bitch" "sweetcakes" ect. ect.
I followed this link to the article about making the third Twilight film more "guy-friendly", i.e. more gore, and was totally blind-sided that a tiny, one page, four paragraph, (really two paragraphs and two long quotations) led to a long string of absolutely vitriolic, hateful poison. It only took seven comments in to become a series of rape "jokes". After the initial hilarious comment **TRIGGER WARNING (for the rest of the post)**
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**TRIGGER WARNING FOR ALL THESE COMMENTS, THEY ARE SICK**
{"What would you gents be willing to do to have a go with Ashley Greene?"
Id be willing to throw her in the trunk of my car, take her to my buddy Tonkas house and gang rape her for 2-3 hours, then we'd probably roll her up in the rug and throw her in the river.
I've always been a hopeless romantic like that though..}
several responses indicated the utter approval other readers had for this plan of action.
{HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I SWEAR THAT THE WATER I WAS DRINKING CAME OUT OF MY NOSE!!!}
{Buddy, two on one isn't a gang, and 2-3 hours isn't a rape. You really aren't thinking big enough. Wait for the Superbowl, and use her for an after game party favor. }
When one person finally posted that actually, gang-rape and murder *wasn't* that funny, the original guy and all his buddies ganged up on this poster with a series of totally hilarious rape threats, all while patting themselves on the back. Here's a few gems out of the 181 (so far) comments made:
{ don't you have someplace else to go to whine? Note - when your Father was inside of you calling you Princess... he only did that to keep you quiet. He didn't mean for you to gather your words would mean anything to anyone else out in the real world (meaning: off your mattress}
{You know what'll cure that frustration Sweetcakes?}
{No one gives a shit about your feminism. No one cares about your drive for recognition, your proud lesbianism, or all the other shit you think makes you an advanced form of woman. Go lick a twat instead.}
{Hardly any of the young women I know(my fiancée included) can cook. If I want a good home cooked meal I have to make it. That shit pisses me off, women should have to take three college level classes to learn how to fucking cook. I watch "Mad Men" every week and I am fucking envious as shit!}
{You're not much more than an orgasm sandwiched between two headaches.}
{Go suck your Dad's dick. It's allowance day and time for you to go pay your rent Bitch!}
{Do you feel bad of the control your Dad took from you when he over-powered and penetrated you? Don't you feel even worse that you liked it?}
Again, I know that this type of commenting has already been talked about again and again, but it's so prevalent everywhere!! How can anyone read comments anymore when s**t like this is just lying in wait?! I was planning to go to bed before I read this, but I am so angry I had to rant to this community forum. Everywhere is unsafe, even/especially the internet.
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Thankfully none of the online communities I've participated in are quite so blatantly disgusting, but there always is a "hot girls thread" which eventually devolves into posting "jailbait." It actually got so bad that the webmasters were told the community would get shut down and prosecuted for showing child porn if the thread wasn't closed.
It's absolutely disturbing to read things like that though, to know people like that actually exist AND have girlfriends/fiances/wives. It makes you wonder how many "nice guys" secretely terrorize women on the internet. Not to be super paranoid or anything, it's just hard to believe that men that openly sadistic online would be able to maintain any semblence of that in "real life" and still have friends and partners.
I don't understand this predilection myself. Nor do I understand the rape fetish or the sadist impulse that seems to dwell in the minds of many men. If I had to wager a guess, it's that we're only half civilized at times and the other half of the time we're little more than animals. And one mustn't forget about the herd mentality that dictates behavior like this too. If one person does it, then others feel perfectly justified in being a part.
"If I had to wager a guess, it's that we're only half civilized at times and the other half of the time we're little more than animals."
Yeah, that's pretty much it. We're basically less hairy chimps with better impulse control, after all...
The Internet just makes it more noticeable
We're not even less hairy. Humans have more hair follicles per area of skin than chimps; our hair is just much finer and thus less noticeable.
I hear your frustration. This is why my internet world is very small. I rarely venture into commenting spaces because I won't be able to sleep. I don't understand why it such a huge hassle to respect people. Does it really take so much energy?
Has anyone had any luck defusing these kind of commenting situations without official moderation?
I occasionally comment on Texts from last night, where the comments can get really offensive and stupid. Sometimes its best to ignore. Inevitably someone tries to comment on how its not funny, and then the anti-feminist bashing comes out. If I get involved I usually point out that such viewpoints could only seriously be held by preteens trying to look cool or extremely bitter men who haven't gotten over an earlier rejection yet. I've also applauded them for their brilliant use of satire.
Sometimes I point out that rape jokes can be quite funny when done right, but most people who try them aren't actually funny.
One of the main problems with internet comments is its hard to tell when someone's being sarcastic. Especially in an anonymous forum. Nothing brings out the "humor-less feminist" comments like that sadly.
I am of the beliefs that the people who spout this kind of crap online do not have the courage to do it in real life. Most of the time, they're more than likely losers who live in their parents' basement, or are without a job, and staying at home all day writing about how hot women are and how much they'd love to "rape" them.
They're harmless, albeit stupid and suck at life.
I have a policy of only reading comments on 'safe' sites as I can't deal with the mindfuck.