Rape Threats on Twitter

"TBH I think it starts in early childhood with the doctor set in blue and the nurse set in pink."

Have you seen the Let Toys Be Toys campaign?

an small victory:

Internet troll who abused Mary Beard apologises after threat to tell his mother:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10209643/Internet-troll-who-abused-Mary-Beard-apologises-after-threat-to-tell-his-mother.html

It starts at nursery. I would like to buy DD3 a lunchbox with spacecrafts. But she doesn't want it. "Other girls will laugh at me because it is for boys"...

Russians is right, sexism shows much earlier, at uni for me. When I was interviewing for jobs, male students were commenting why do I want to do an internship in US if I have a family... The wife of one male student asked me how could I possibly put DS into the nursery. One male student from my class commented in an assessment center that I am bizarre to want a job like this given I have a kid at home with DH. The interviewer then turned to question me about this.

Laurie Penny is one of those writers who thinks the world started with her

very balanced comment!

I only see one person being bitchy here justin and it isn't me. If people don't value the gains that have been fought for and won, they'll throw them away again. If they focus only on online abuse they will miss the real sexism that blights lives and threatens livelihoods. If you don't get that then I can't help you.

Well done Russians to turn this into a woman against woman bitchfest.

Women have it so easy now - yeah right. Just shows what a narrow field you are judging from.

I'm in a similar profession to eurochick. The impact of sexism is felt at partner appointment time but the actual sexism has been going on from the day of recruitment. Day one, everyone is equal. Day 2, the boys are getting better opportunities than the girls.....sometimes, still. In my day, it was a given, but this is happening less and less now and that will be reflected as the grad recruits come through to prospective partner level, especially as they benefit from better maternity/ parental policies and better attitudes towards work life balance. I'm mid forties. The people 5 years younger than me had a slightly easier time of it. The people 10 years younger than me are having a significantly easier time of it. And so on. People in their 20s really have no idea of what it was like in city professions 20 years ago. Luckily for them.

I take Russian's point though. I and most of my friends have been hit by it more in our 30s but we may well not be representative of every woman's experience. If you are a woman who wants to be a car mechanic you're going to find it hits you much younger.

I think that's a good point turnip.

In my profession (law) at least at the big firms, there is equality at grad rec level. HR are very careful to make sure that the process is fair and moderated and I genuinely believe there is no prejudice allowed to surface there (it undoubtedly exists in some quarters but no one person has control over hiring and there are processes to be followed, so the overall outcome seems to me to be fair). However, at the next big promotion (to partnership), which usually comes in your 30s or perhaps early 40s, there is a huge problem andobviously poorer outcomes for women.

On the subject of the OP, the abuse sounds appalling and I'm glad twitter has been pushed into doing something about it.

Turnip I think you may have hit on soemthing there. I am definitely becomming more confirmed in my stand on feminism and womens issues as I progress through my thirties.

I'm struggling at the moment with a few men, peers not superiors, who seem to think it's OK to dismiss or belittle my ideas and role, and the only reason I can find is my gender.

I've never encoutered it before, and am baffled as to how to tackle it, but it is certianly making me more alert to the explicit and implicit ways society frames and therefore limits women.

One small victory for womankind and the misogynists are out in force targeting all their hatred onto one woman. Why is it so threatening to them? It would be funny if it weren't so terrifying.

I signed the petition this morning after I received an email about it. I stand behind Caroline 100% and although I don't use Twitter I know how it feels to be bullied and threatened. There is never an excuse and there should always be consequences for the ones perpetrating it.

on R4 WatO right NOW!!!

I know plenty of women who believe there is no sexism, as they don't even notice it - I think LP is right in pointing out that the internet has helped raising awareness a lot.

Tunip Laurie Penny is one of those writers who thinks the world started with her. It didn't. There was horrendous - worse- sexism before the internet was widespread. And women were well aware of it, thanks.

Also I would dispute your assessment of when sexism starts to bite at work. I suspect the point at which this happens can be as many points as there are in a woman's working life, and it all depends on the industry/profession you are in, and the people you are lucky or unlucky enough to encounter.

I dunno Russians, I think a lot of women are still in denial. And a lot more only really notice the sexism once they hit 30-40 and it starts to affect them really noticeably at work.

The abuse on twitter is disgusting and should be stopped. The response from twitter owners has been poor up until now. However. Laurie Penny is nuts if she thinks women didn't realise how much some men hate us until the internet became widespread. Those of us who have experienced Real Life sexism, sexism that threatened our livelihoods, have far more understanding of the issue than people who earn shitloads, live in an ivory tower and have no more to complain of than threats from idiots on the internet. You can stop looking at the internet. A bit more difficult to ignore sustained workplace sexism which is condoned and participated in by your boss.

Actually the banknote issue really appalled me. It was just adding insult to injury by removing the osole woman and replacing her with a man who was vehemently opposed to the vote for women.

It is scary isn't it. A few nutters yes, but just bizarre and incomprehensible that such vitriol can come out because a woman did a campaign to get women recognized on bank notes. What makes the 'a few nutters' response inadequate for me is that these 'nutters' have got so upset about something so innocuous. How can it be upsetting to see 50% of the population recognized on a symbol of our country?
If that upsets them then heaven only knows how they would react to a few of the conversations on here.....actually i would pay good money to see them react to a few conversations on here, from a suitable distance and purely for entertainment value.......

FWIW I think Criado-Perez is really brave and I really admire her for tackling the misogynists head on yes she is and she comes across very well too - I wish I had her strength and was as articulate as she is, she is an inspiration and I will try and draw strength from her. I thank her for standing up for me and every single female.

FWIW I think Criado-Perez is really brave and I really admire her for tackling the misogynists head on. I like to think I'd do the same but I suspect I would be so terrified by the tweets she received that I'd just abandon Twitter.

This is a serious issue and we should not ignore it. Have we forgotten about the cases where teenage girls committed suicide because of cyber bullying. Obviously Criado-Perez is not going to kill herself over rape threats because she is a strong adult. But not everyone is as strong as her to stand up to the bullies. I haven't been reading the tweets, but I understood they even tweet her phone number and home address. It must be quite terrifying.

Just saw on twitter that the media turned up at her house! How insanely ignorant is that?!

"A bit of perspective please, a few nutters on the internet are not representative of 50% of the population."

Yes it's just a handful of men but it's ALL women who remain afraid - afraid of speaking out, afraid of doing anything remotely feminist - because we don't know which ones are the "nutters", which ones are decent men or which ones don't really care.

Hooray uk.news.yahoo.com/twitter-must-rape-threats-seriously-140956007.html#10sdrRE feels a bit hollow to say hooray but at least a result and maybe sends a message. So sad though that the poor woman had to endure that crap.