[Content Note: Misogyny; harassment; abuse.]
"The difference in visibility between me and other individuals is itself something that is exploited to hurt me. These gaps are exploited both by people with vastly more visibility than me and those with no discernable visibility at all—anonymous harassers and stalkers. ...They go at you from the top—people with vastly more visibility than you—and from the bottom—people with absolutely no visibility—squeezing you in the space in between until there is very little space for you at all."—Shanley Kane, in a must-read essay entitled "'Internet Famous': Visibility as Violence on Social Media." Which, aside from the bits specific to tech culture, feels perfectly and terribly familiar to me.
I really urge you to read the whole thing, because it is a crucial entry in the ongoing conversation about what the real cost is to visible and/or activist women.
Related Reading: We Need to Talk About This and "How did this become your normal?"
[H/T to Amanda Levitt.]
Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.
blog comments powered by Disqus