What makes you think she didn't expect it?

This isn't the first time Anita Sarkeesian has received death threats. This might be the most severe time, but it won't be the last time.

Based on the evidence I'd like to offer an alternative perspective: "Damn, look at what she's going through. Given that she saw this coming, she must be both brave and dedicated to her cause. Regardless of the quality or content of her ideas, we've got to respect her courage."

Also: there's a big difference between a predictable outcome and an acceptable outcome. I hope you don't think that just because it has happened before it's okay for sadists to harass women for speaking publicly.

You haven't offended me, and I don't think you're scum. Honestly, it's a bummer you're worried about being seen that way. I'm a man, and I'm seeing a lot of the same articles/tweets/etc you are. They don't make me feel guilty though, they make me outraged. I don't identify with the trolls here. When I hear about them it's like hearing about radical jihadism. Radical jihadists are usually young men, but that doesn't put me in their camp. So why would I feel guilty? I feel outraged because we're doing something about radical jihadism (regardless of our effectiveness), but I don't see what's being done about these online harassment campaigns.

As far as over sensitivity goes, I haven't seen much of that, but it makes sense to me. It's probably happening. I certainly wouldn't want to be accidentally associated with misogynists. As a member of the privileged (male) class, it's easy to take the privilege for granted. The default assumption isn't that you're pro-feminism, so you've got to prove it a bit. If that's inconvenient, irritating, or boring, sorry about that. If the misogynists vanished (or diminished to, say, American neo-Nazi levels), then we could all get on with things and relax about this issue a bit.

I'm worried that I see a bit of false equivalence* in your comparison of the feminist vs misogynist divide. Let's be clear here, there's cultural debate and shifting norms and people are speaking out against certain parts of our society. All of that is true, but only one side of the issue is engaging in a scorched earth hate campaign. It's like the Pro-Life people who bomb abortion clinics or the KKK burning a black church. It doesn't matter where you stand on issues of reproduction or race, we all need to condemn those behaviors. Really there are never 2 sides. There are always many sides. Still, I think we should all try not to be on the side of the hate crimes.


I don't have the solution, but we need to make the internet a safer place for women. It's the right thing to do, and we'll all be richer for it.


* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...