Facebook, Sexism, Racism, Violence..?
| By Emily - Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:38 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
A facebook group called, "Laws women will abide by" has been getting a lot of attention from Wellesley Women lately. The group posts a list of laws for all women including:
This MANifesto for women crosses the line from just plain obnoxious to violent. The wall has been aflutter with posts between feminists and misogynists, though interestingly the expected gender lines do not seem to apply. Women are defending the laws:
and recomending some new ones:
Not satisfied with simply being sexist, they've jumped into the racism pool with comments like this:
Will this "dialogue" result in some form of action? Wellesley women are organizing as we speak. What could and should been done that is effective??
Law 10. Any woman caught wearing a belly shirt while having any type of fat or skin hangin over their pants will be killed...they have the choice between the electric chair and the gas chamber.
Law 35. Women will wear thongs at all times except during their period. Exception to the rule...women weighing over 150 pounds shall not wear thongs or have thong straps hang out...offense is punishable by being choked by that gigantic fucking sling shot thong.
This MANifesto for women crosses the line from just plain obnoxious to violent. The wall has been aflutter with posts between feminists and misogynists, though interestingly the expected gender lines do not seem to apply. Women are defending the laws:
Julia said: "I think that laws are funny. If you think about it... these rules are almost socially accpetable... [sic]"
and recomending some new ones:
Mary said: "i think the law should be more like: no woman shall cry rape because all of them were asking for it..and she loved it anyway"
Not satisfied with simply being sexist, they've jumped into the racism pool with comments like this:
Maria: "just cus i have a hot body and u have stretch marks including ur eyes does not mean that u can talk shit on us here BITCH...take the floss from over ur eyes and actually see what ridiculous shit ur saying u fuckin asshole"
Will this "dialogue" result in some form of action? Wellesley women are organizing as we speak. What could and should been done that is effective??
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Facebook really does bring out the lowest common denominator - Link Great minds think alike. ;)
I think Mary might have been busting out a bit of sarcasm there, though.
Also, I think it's cute that your natural impulse to people saying stupid things is "let's organize!" - good luck with that, but stupidity may well outlive the Wellesley Class of 2008.
I totally think it's "cute" for you to - like - point out how "cute" it is that people wanted to organize. Like, they totally must have learned that from their Tupperware parties!
Note: I didn't say that people should organize, I asked a question, what type of organizing do you think would be effective when someone posts violent hate speech on Facebook? There are a bunch of Wellesley people writing letters to the colleges these kids go to etc...and I think one of the main things they are pointing out is that this isn't just stupidity, these people are making violent comments. Granted, these are probably just stupid freshman boys who pass out drunk at 9:30 on Fridays, but declarations of how they'd like to murder someone who wears a thong when she weighs over 150lbs.... not so cool, not so safe.
To be fair, there's no gender component to it - I think I've described all sorts of huge rallies of all genders with words such as "cute" or "quaint" at some point or another.
It's the concept, not the people.
This is a good and useful idea... why? You have a point about the ones making violent comments, I agree, but other than that?
i can't believe college-educated kids are doing this. has their education done nothing for them?
this gives me little hope for the future. if people in our current day and age can't see the problem with this kind of sexist and racist behavior, how is there any hope for changing the world and making it a better place?
i want an apology from mark fucking zuckerburg, to women and minorities of all kinds, and to humanity in general, by the end of the year.
Link
As to "what hope for progress is there?" - considering all progress made in the world thus far has been in spite of continued human idiocy, I think your worries are a bit unfounded. Life goes on.
They made a stupid and offensive facebook group. We've condemned it and pointed out that it's stupid and offensive.
That's about all there is to do.
Nothing. Nothing can be done. It's the internet. People have been posting stupid things since its inception (and I hear they've used other mediums before that).
Look, unless they are literally suggesting women be executed, I suspect it is humor. It is stupid, unsophisticated humor, but it is humor. You can't ban people or censor them because you find them offensive.
Ultimately, who cares what a group on Facebook is doing?
One point about humor, though - when it really, really sucks (Andrew Dice Clay sticks out as the example I think we can all agree on) it's worth saying so.
At the same time, one has to realize that you can't "take action". You just say it sucks and move on.
but if everyone said that about every social wrong in this world, then what chance would there be for progress and social change?
i for one appreciate what the women at wellesley are doing, and i appreciate the fact that emily brought this to the attn of the progressive community, esp those of us without facebook accounts (like myself)
your apathy is what's keeping the revolution from kicking ass.
i am too young to just sit back and shrug, to give a limp-lipped frown and hope things improve on their own.
facebook is one thing, but if you'll tolerate threats of violence against women and minorities on any medium, joking or not, what else will you take?
i refuse to accept it.
Did anyone say to say that about every social wrong in this world?
If you can't meaningly differentiate between different types of social wrongs based on their causes, characteristics, etcetera, you're not thinking very hard.
""your apathy is what's keeping the revolution from kicking ass.
i am too young to just sit back and shrug, to give a limp-lipped frown and hope things improve on their own. ""
Yes, I'm so apathetic. That's why I'm (to my knowledge) the only student in my school on-track to complete a masters' in four years so I can enter the public sector and be poor. Clearly, I just don't care enough.
America is not in need of a revolution. Some tweaking, yes, a revolution, no. America, as it currently stands, is still one of the most functionally sound countries on earth despite the election of piss-poor leaders from time to time.
""facebook is one thing, but if you'll tolerate threats of violence against women and minorities on any medium, joking or not, what else will you take?""
Uh... the 'joking or not' part is a pretty fucking huge equivalency. Something meant in humor (even if it's stupid and repulsive) and something meant seriously require different responses.
""i refuse to accept it. ""
Good for you. The world totally cares what you do or don't refuse to accept. You are a unique and beautiful snowflake.
Are you talking about me or SDF? or both? Our opinion on a stupid misogynist Facebook group is preventing the second American Revolution?
Oh my god, you're right! I might tolerate going back to slavery or another holocaust. Get real. It's just some idiots on the internet. I just don't choose to get all indignant about it.
And to think that my dad was getting on me recently about the time I spend in pointless political debates on the internet. Isn't it nice to know we're actually important? ;)
Reminds me of when the crazies at the Black Hebrew Nation declared that all non-black Jews are really robots created by Satan. My first thought was "Hey, 'Hellspawned Robot' sure beats any other job title I'm likely to get in the next ten years."
Also, the Senior Community Standards Officer at Saint Joseph's University (where many of these students went) said:
"We are looking into the issue and aware of the student(s) involved. The comments made are clearly offensive to many, both internal and external to our campus and are not representative of the opinions and beliefs of Saint Joseph's University."
So perhaps there will be more education about the issues discussed in the group
I'm instantly wary of anyone who says that the answer to an issue is "more education".
These kids are college students - if they can think themselves, they can figure these things out on their own well enough - they're simply choosing not to. The campus doesn't need "education", "sensitivity training", and the like - the kids responsible need a fucking smack or two upside their heads from their female friends.
The group was shut down pretty quickly, but not before some 60 people had joined, several of them women. While they didn't defend the group it is pretty shocking the low level of conciousness some women have towards sexism and misogyny (Men are even less concious of this...).
While this sort of thing is shocking, its not surprising. Last year at Leeds the men's hockey team did a pub crawl dressed as rape victims. Thankfully the whole team was suspended and the captain expelled from uni but it was a pretty sickening episode.
In the end these things will still happen until people become concious of the real effects of rape, sexism, misogyny, racism and the myriad of other oppressions people suffer. These things have a real effect on peoples lives, and even if these sorts of comments are meant in jest (which a lot of the time they aren't...) they are still despicable.