If feminists don't like systems such as Facebook or Twitter, then make their own. If they don't like current sports, then make their own. If they don't like current religions, then make their own. If they don't like anything that is current, then make their own, but don't start using something men have created, and then whinge about it.

'women have always been 'called things' when they speak in a public setting. It's a particular form of sexist abuse that aims to silence women's views and ideas, and undermine their authority.'

As have men always been 'called things'. How do you know that is the aim? Particularly to silence and undermine women? Why is it assumed everything is gendered? Could it not be that people just don't agree? Could it just be that people aim abuse to where they think it might push buttons?

Why do feminists assign motivation to all men? This seems to be a constant in feminism, assigning motivation to men's behaviour.

It's totally irrational. If women feel undermined, if they identify a 'particular form' of abuse, if it makes them feel a certain way, that's all internal to the individual women. To externalise it and assign a motive to all men, or even a particular man, is just ridiculous..

Which brings me to...

'one serious cultural obstacle encountered by any feminist writer is that feminist work has tended to be received as if it emerged from nowhere, as if each of us had lived, thought and worked without any historical past or contextual present.'

And so it should! if all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. Why should all arguments not be argued just on their merits, in the current society? Why should they be massaged into some continuos narrative that attempts to steal some kind of authenticity from a time that has passed, and from people who are now dead and from other cultures.

Does each 5 year old boy and girl need to be indoctrinated with a guilt/victim complex in an attempt to keep the war going? Is it wrong headed to think little girls should not be brought up with a chip on their shoulder and little boys not brought up in a blanket of guilt?

That boy may just be stealing a toy because he hasn't learned about sharing. But of course he's an abusive misogynist looking to silence and disempower the girl in a particular way.

The reason for male intolerance of female public expression is clear. The Christian bible explicitly states that women may not speak in public. The Roman Catholic church maintains that dogma in its refusal to allow women priests. Things change slowly, but attitudes change even slower. I wouldn't be surprised if women get more abuse than men on the internet, but believe me, they aren't the only recipients of vituperation. I have quit two forums because of thoroughly nasty responses received from the usual clutch of misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic men who love to use anonymous public forums to vent their spleens. Use your wits and make fun of them, don't let it get you down. Keep posting because women do see the world differently from us men, and we sure as hell need as many ideas as we can get if we're to survive the coming crisis of overpopulation and its consequences.

' the usual clutch of misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic men who love to use anonymous public forums to vent their spleens. '

I wonder where the misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic women hang out. I mean obviously the internet was invented for men by men and then women came along, like workplaces I suppose. So now women want a certain standard of behaviour. It makes me wonder whether women are never 'misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic ', or if so, where do they display all this 'misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic ' behaviour.

I think the interesting question in this article is really whether the internet is the real world. When everyone is anonymous, and when hyperbole and irony abound, I really don't reckon it counts.

But go to Essential Baby. It's the best I've found to have a look at a predominately female internet space. Their behaviour is something to study. Perhaps if we never had the internet we would have never known the depths of depravity of Mother's Groups and women's social circles.

Or maybe women are really perfect, it's the 'Male' invention of the internet that is really the problem

It's harder to detect passive aggression, but I wonder if women invented the internet and started there first, whether men would

a) Join, and complain about the comments that could be taken another way, working out whether they are being snide or smug, and wonder what all these women are saying between the lines, or what they say when they're not around.

b) Not pay it any mind, because it's too girly, and invent somewhere where they can slag each other off and use amusing put-downs and laugh at how politically incorrect they can be.

Anyway, these men the author talks about, they're not 'misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic ', they're men with the specific aim of silencing women.

Jessica, great thoughtful piece! Helen

Got to love this. A thread about calling women names and someone who's real name is apparently ybgirp posts "misanthropic, racist, bigoted, homophobic, isolationist, xenophobic men who love to use anonymous public forums to vent their spleens"

Beautiful piece of satire.

Back to the article
I do wonder at times how women feel about the massive negation of the contribution women have made to history which some feminists seem to promote

"rather than stemming from the necessity of having to use a language that is literally man made and embedded with cultural values that are not, and never have been, our own".

Apparently not only have women had no role to play in the shaping of our culture with it's good and bad elements (despite doing almost all of the early nurture of children for a long period) they have apparently not even contributed to the shaping of our language.

I know I find the constant attacks on my gender offensive, I suspect that women could easily find the kind of thinking that basically says that their gender has contributed nothing significant rather offensive as well.

For the record I've been called names by women at times in my online life (and occasionally in the real world), I've been accussed of some pretty nasty stuff by some when I choose to stand up for my opinions on a point of disagreement. I don't hold the entire gender responsible for the behaviour of the few.

R0bert