B12: Why Women Aren' t Welcome on the Internet


The topic of this essay was hard to read. I had heard of experiences before in stalking cases in which the police had no power to act, but even as a woman I still hadn’t understood or realized the extent to which harassment across the internet/phone/mail would affect someone. The more and more assigned readings we do, the more I see how we cover up social inequalities. Anyone can be exposed to adversity, but now I really see how I, and other females around me, may face direct discrimination in the future. Amanda Hess never truly answers her question of “why women aren’t welcome on the internet,” but she does address how women aren’t welcome by documenting a variety of experiences from various victims. Sadly, the anonymity of the internet brings people to be more daring and vocal about their opinions, probably knowing that they aren’t likely to be traced. Similarly, even if they are traced that they won’t face charges because what they are doing is not actually considered a criminal offense. Since Hess does not directly answer why women are more likely to be victimized and harassed online, I am not completely satisfied. I think that this could be her intention though. As a woman, I understand how I am not welcome because I face people acting inappropriately in person as well as online, but it still makes me ask why. I know the why is related to women and how they are more vulnerable, less likely to fight back, and there may be a higher number of male predators, but it doesn’t answer why things are this way. We don’t truly know why social divisions exist except that discrimination and sexism is still apparent in society. This essay is not really an argument. I
think at least all female readers would understand this and not think it needs to be “argued” or “proven”. As for Huxley’s Three Directions, this passage matches well. The focus heads in the personal direction when Hess starts with personal experiences of death threats and hate across the medium Twitter. The direction heads towards the factual and concrete when Hess references laws, acts, and other legislation surrounding the issue of stalking and what actions the executive branch has permission to do. The direction becomes global when Hess talks about others with similar experiences, facing the same legal obstacles. Although her examples are not global, she explains that a variety of women-different ages(teenagers), etc. - face these issues simply because they are female. Issues of discrimination are likely to be underreported.

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