On the heels of the Howard Kurtz article, Online, Churls Gone Vile, which I gently mocked here, particularly for referencing the word “douchebag” as “feminine hygiene product,” (considering the actual obscenity that one encounters in newspapers), blogger Kathy Sierra of the site Creating Passionate Users, which is about coding, has been subject to a variety of vile comments and threats. This has caused her to cancel a teaching engagement at a convention, and she feels so threatened that she is afraid to leave her house and has discontinued posting.
I’ve read some of the posts, and they are indeed disgusting and threatening. I’m personally not in a position to judge whether she’s overreacting or not, as the nature of apparent threats can be differently interpreted by people, and it would be easy for me to criticize, as I’m not presently being stalked or threatened (as far as I know). Still, the comments make for very interesting reading. A lot of people have showed up to deplore the aggression. Kathy herself and some of her commenters note a misogynistic and pornographic tenor to the slasheresque imagery employed in the sick communications. One of the commenters (search “Joey”) feels that he has been misinterpreted and tossed in with the threateners, and that the post is in fact a passive-aggressive act by the site owner to shut down people who criticize her writings (she’s authored or co-authored a number of books on coding).
Some people see the root of the problem in masculinism or masculinity. Others see it in pornography. Some lend their support and emote. Others recommend she buy a gun. Still others feel that she is overreacting. Some see this as representative of deterioration in the civility of online discourse, whereas others say that it’s always been this way. Toward the end of the thread (as it stands now) there are several posts exhibiting the despicable language of which she complains, and a possible smokescreen attempt to attribute it to a woman. People have traced one major offender to an IP in Spain, it appears.
Of course, I denounce it, but what’s fascinating to me is the variety of agendas and interpretations of motive that get attached to an incident like this.
A site on coding brought this on? Coding, as in “writing computer programs” coding?
WTH???
Yeah, Mikey. I’ve added in the link. Go check it out.
Computer nerds exhibiting anti-social behavior, what is the world coming to.
Kathy writes a great blog about creating great experiences for application and website users. Nothing at all political about it. For her to be the target of mysogynistic slurs and death threats really takes the cake.
For what it’s worth, I’ve created an online petition, “In Solidarity with Kathy Sierra.” Read the link Dan provided, and if you feel so moved, you can sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?KSierra
Could this be the beginning of a new phase in the internet jihad?
Some of this sounds vaguely familiar to me, though I can’t quite say why…
Yeah, but someone wasn’t targetted by misogynists.
I celebrate it!
How can you be sure? Will not the trapped vixen gnaw off its own forelimb?
(rhetorical)
Maybe not. But that’s the point, isn’t it? The police in this case seem to be taking the threat very seriously. In another, vaguely similar case, they took it seriously but were unable to do anything about it, because the DA wasn’t certain he could get a conviction.
Only men pose serious threats, I guess. The real story here isn’t about misogyny, etc. That’s old hat. No, the real story here is about a certain double standard, and perhaps an ingrained sexist notion about who is eligible for aggressive protections.
All hypothetically, of course.
Can’t you vote your DA’s out of office if they play the fool like that?
I doubt my one vote will make the difference.
What set that pack of loons loose?
Right up to the point where the guy becomes a corpse. Then, they’ll spring into action and determine why he had it coming.
Equality rules! Maybe one day we’ll have it.
Ever been in a room full of developers trying to decide which language/library/framework to use?
*shudder*
Seriously, I hope the idiots in this case—like the idiot in the vaguely similar case Jeff mentioned—get what they deserve.
I must have missed something. Nobody mentions an active prosecution underway in this case. A police report, sure, and even though some officer agrees that the posts are “threatening” doesn’t mean a case can be made. So it seems premature to claim that this situation is proof of some inherent injustice against men.
I can’t do links, but Scott Burgess over on the Daily Ablution has an absolute cracker of an insane feminist man-killer in his sights today. Quite frightening to read. Especially if you live anywhere near Deerfield, Mass.
Point taken, cynn. It’s still a big “if.” From the tenor of the piece, I took away that the police were indeed actively and aggressively investigating. What remains to be seen is if the DA will then do anything about it.
Depends on what state she’s in, I guess.
You can file this under “reasons to have a concealed-carry permit.”
Anyway, there are a number of arguments that, strangely, can sometimes take on a near-religious fervor (operating systems, motor oil) but death threats are way over the top no matter how much you prefer, say, Amsoil to Rotella.
I simply hope the threateners, whoever they may be, get a taste (preferably a big, stinky mouthful) of the consequences of their actions.
All too often, people mistake temporary anonymity for permanent immunity. Unfortunately, prosecution of internet death threats is notoriously unlikely.
But, like software viruses, this kind of behavior has real-world effects, and needs to have real-world consequences.
Re: angry nerds:
tinyurl.com/36amtu
tinyurl.com/2q9ae7
tinyurl.com/3a2n4q
I’ve actually played this game in the past in which I respond to anti-Jewish statements by ridiculing the Christians. ,
When are children typically expected to spell these words? ,