Abstract
In this chapter, we examine women’s public narratives of online harassment in order to interrogate the ways women share their stories as a means of enacting modes of resistance in digital spaces. More specifically, we identify four rhetorical strategies women use in their narratives, including calling out harassers and institutions, representing shared experience, disrupting hegemonic narratives of the internet and online harassment and defying harassers. We discuss both the potentials and limitations of each strategy in order to consider the practical implications these strategies have for the ways resistance to online harassment can be enacted. We also reflect on our own narratives of online harassment and consider the ethical implications of researching and reproducing women’s public narratives. In all these ways, we hope to shed light on the ways women use their public narratives of online harassment to seek public change as well as what new understanding can be gained through scholarship on online harassment resistance strategies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anzaldúa, G. (2012). Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
Barlow, C., & Awan, I. (2016). “You Need to Be Sorted Out With a Knife”: The Attempted Online Silencing of Women and People of Muslim Faith Within Academia. Social Media + Society, 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116678896.
Bates, L. (2013, October 24). Shutting Us Down: How Online Misogyny Prevents Women from Fully Participating in Democracy. Women Under Siege. Retrieved from http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/how-misogyny-is-preventing-women-from-fully-participating-in-the-democratic.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Brooks, P. (1984). Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chess, S., & Shaw, A. (2015). A Conspiracy of Fishes, or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying About #GamerGate and Embrace Hegemonic Masculinity. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59, 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2014.999917.
Citron, D. (2014). Hate Crimes in Cyberspace. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Code, L. (1995). Rhetorical Spaces: Essays on Gendered Locations. New York: Routledge.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Corple, D. J. (2016). Beyond the Gender Gap: Understanding Women’s Participation in Wikipedia. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
Day, F. (2014, November 1). The Only Thing I Have To Say About Gamer Gate. Retrieved from http://thisfeliciaday.tumblr.com/post/100700417809/the-only-thing-i-have-to-say-about-gamer-gate.
Dewey, C. (2014, December 17). Rape Threats, Then No Response: What It Was Like to Be a Woman on Twitter in 2014. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/12/17/rape-threats-then-no-response-what-it-was-like-to-be-a-woman-on-twitter-in-2014.
Dibbell, J. (1993). A Rape in Cyberspace: How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society. Village Voice. Retrieved from http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/annam1994§ion=44.
DiCaro, J. (2016, March 29). I Created an Account to Highlight the Harassment of Women on Twitter; Twitter Suspended It. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@JulieDiCaro/i-created-an-account-to-highlight-the-harassment-of-women-on-twitter-twitter-suspended-it-ed5e0504dbda.
Dione, E. (2016, June 7). My Viral Tweet Taught Me How Unsafe the Internet Is for Black Women. Revelist. Retrieved from http://www.revelist.com/real-talk/viral-tweet-unsafe-women/2841.
DiResta, R. (2016, June 8). How Not to Protect Your Users. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@noupside/how-to-not-protect-your-users-77d87871d716#.44n445f1o.
Filipovic, J. (2014, January 10). Let’s Be Real: Online Harassment Isn’t ‘Virtual’ for Women. Talking Points Memo. Retrieved from http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/let-s-be-real-online-harassment-isn-t-virtual-for-women.
Foss, K. A., & Foss, S. K. (1994). Personal Experience as Evidence in Feminist Scholarship. Western Journal of Communication, 58, 39–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570319409374482.
Friedman, A. (2013, January 31). Haters Gonna Hate. What’s a Woman to Do About It? New York Magazine. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/01/haters-gonna-hate-whats-a-woman-to-do.html.
Gandy, I. (2014, August 12). #TwitterFail: Twitter’s Refusal to Handle Online Stalkers, Abusers and Haters. Rewire. Retrieved from https://rewire.news/article/2014/08/12/twitterfail-twitters-refusal-handle-online-stalkers-abusers-haters/.
Geiger, R. S. (2016). Bot-Based Collective Blocklists in Twitter: The Counterpublic Moderation of Harassment in a Networked Public Space. Information Communication & Society, 19, 787–803. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1153700.
Gray, K. (2013). Collective Organizing, Individual Resistance, or Asshole Griefers? An Ethnographic Analysis of Women of Color in Xbox Live. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, 2, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.7264/N3KK98PS.
Gunn, A. (2013, August 23). I Have a Character Issue. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/i-have-a-character-issue.html.
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14, 575–599. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178066.
Harding, S. (1991). Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women’s Lives. New York: Cornell University Press.
Herring, S. C. (1999). The Rhetorical Dynamics of Gender Harassment On-Line. The Information Society, 15, 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/019722499128466.
Herring, S. C. (2002). Cyber Violence: Recognizing and Resisting Abuse in Online Environments (Vol. 14, pp. 187–212). Asian Women.
Hess, A. (2014, January 6). Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet. Pacific Standard. Retrieved from https://psmag.com/why-women-aren-t-welcome-on-the-internet.
Izzy I. (2015, December 15). The State of Online Harassment: Decentering Whiteness and Colonization. Model View Culture. Retrieved from https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-state-of-online-harassment-decentering-whiteness-and-colonization.
Jane, E. A. (2014a). Your a Ugly, Whorish, Slut. Feminist Media Studies, 14, 531–546. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.741073.
Jane, E. A. (2014b). “Back to the Kitchen, Cunt”: Speaking the Unspeakable About Online Misogyny. Continuum, 28, 558–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2014.924479.
Jane, E. A. (2016). Online Misogyny and Feminist Digilantism. Continuum, 30, 284–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2016.1166560.
Jones, F. (2016, February 2). When Online Harassment Is Cross-Platform, There’s Nowhere to Turn. Women’s Media Center Speech Project. Retrieved from http://wmcspeechproject.com/2016/02/11/online-harassment-cross-platform-nowhere-to-turn-feminista-jones/.
Judd, A. (2015, March 19). Forget Your Time: Your Online Violence Toward Girls and Women Is What Can Kiss My Ass. Mic. Retrieved from http://mic.com/articles/113226/forget-your-team-your-online-violence-toward-girls-and-women-is-what-can-kiss-my-ass.
Klepek, P. (2015, November 2). Why Some People Are Upset Over Who’s Judging the Game Awards. Kotaku. Retrieved from http://kotaku.com/why-people-are-upset-over-whos-judging-the-video-game-a-1745801957.
Lafrance, M. N., & McKenzie-Mohr, S. (2014). Women Counters Storying Their Lives. In S. McKenzie-Mohr & M. N. Lafrance (Eds.), Women Voicing Resistance: Discursive and Narrative Explorations. New York: Routledge.
Lenhart, A., Ybarra, M., Zickuhr, K., & Price-Feeney, M. (2016). Online Harassment, Digital Abuse, and Cyberstalking in America. New York: Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from https://datasociety.net/output/online-harassment-digital-abuse-cyberstalking.
Leong, J. (2016, April 12). I Introduced a Bill to Repeal a Police Program. In Response, I Was Harassed by Police. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/13/i-introduced-a-bill-to-repeal-a-police-program-in-response-i-was-harassed-by-police.
Linabary, J. R. (2015, November). Telling the Next Story: Encountering Gendered Online Harassment. Paper Presented at the Annual Conference of the National Communication Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2011). Qualitative Communication Research Methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lykke, N. (2010). Feminist Studies: A Guide to Intersectional Theory, Methodology and Writing. New York: Routledge.
Massanari, A. (2017). #Gamergate and The Fappening: How Reddit’s Algorithm, Governance, and Culture Support Toxic Technocultures. New Media & Society, 19, 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815608807.
Mayberry, L. (2013, September 30). Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry: ‘I Will Not Accept Online Misogyny.’ The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/30/chvrches-lauren-mayberry-online-misogyny.
Miller, C., & Werner-Winslow, A. (2016, November 29). Ten Days After: Harassment and Intimidation in the Aftermath of the Election. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/20161129/ten-days-after-harassment-and-intimidation-aftermath-election.
Mohanty, C. (2003). Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity (pp. 17–42). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Nakamura, L. (2015). Blaming, Shaming, and the Feminization of Social Media. In R. Dubrofsky & S. Magnet (Eds.), Feminist Surveillance Studies (pp. 221–228). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Norton, Q. (2013, November 4). Online and Offline Violence Towards Women. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/message/online-and-offline-violence-towards-women-4c854eb591a5.
Oksala, J. (2013). In Defense of Experience. Hypatia, 29, 388–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12053.
Penny, L. (2011, November 3). Laurie Penny: A Woman’s Opinion Is the Mini-Skirt of the Internet. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/laurie-penny-a-womans-opinion-is-the-mini-skirt-of-the-internet-6256946.html.
Putnam, L. L., Fairhurst, G. T., & Banghart, S. (2016). Contradictions, Dialectics, and Paradoxes in Organizations: A Constitutive Approach. The Academy of Management Annals, 10, 65–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2016.1162421.
Quinn, Z. (2016, May 19). I Won. Retrieved from http://blog.unburntwitch.com/post/144635493954/i-won.
Reynolds, E. (2016, June 15). Here’s What the Police Actually Do When You Report a Twitter Rape Threat. Metro.uk. Retrieved from http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/15/heres-what-the-police-actually-do-when-you-report-a-twitter-rape-threat-5927584/#mv-b.
Reyns, B. W. (2010). Being Pursued Online: Extent and Nature of Cyberstalking Victimization from a Lifestyle/Routine Activities Perspective. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
Sarkeesian, A. (2015, January). One Week of Harassment on Twitter. Retrieved from http://femfreq.tumblr.com/post/109319269825/one-week-of-harassment-on-twitter.
Schaefer, S. (2015, December 17). Oops, I Made a Feminist Joke on the Internet. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-schaefer/oops-i-made-a-feminist-joke-on-the-internet_b_8828296.html.
Scott, J. (1991). The Evidence of Experience. Critical Inquiry, 17, 773–797. https://doi.org/10.1086/448612.
Segall, L. (2016, May 10). About Today’s Harassment. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@lauriesegallcnn/about-todays-harassment-575bc6b0c2e3.
Shaw, A. (2014). The Internet is Full of Jerks, Because the World Is Full of Jerks: What Feminist Theory Teaches Us About the Internet. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11, 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2014.926245.
Shaw, F. (2016). “Bitch I Said Hi”: The Bye Felipe Campaign and Discursive Activism in Mobile Dating Apps. Social Media + Society, 2, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116672889.
Sierra, K. (2014, October 8). Why the Trolls Will Always Win. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2014/10/trolls-will-always-win/.
Sinders, C. (2015, July 17). That Time the Internet Sent a SWAT Team to My Mom’s House. Narratively. Retrieved from http://narrative.ly/that-time-the-internet-sent-a-swat-team-to-my-moms-house/.
Thériault, A. (2015, February 13). Let’s Call Female Online Harassment What It Really Is: Terrorism. Vice. Retrieved from http://www.vice.com/read/lets-call-female-online-harassment-what-it-really-is-gender-terrorism-481.
Valenti, J. (2016, April 14). Insults and Rape Threats: Writers Shouldn’t Have to Deal with This. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/14/insults-rape-threats-writers-online-harassment.
Watson, R. (2013, October 10). Why I Don’t Just Go to the Cops. SkepChick. Retrieved from http://skepchick.org/2013/10/why-i-dont-just-go-to-the-cops/.
West, L. (2013, June 4). If Comedy Has No Lady Problem, Why Am I Getting So Many Rape Threats? Jezebel. Retrieved from http://jezebel.com/if-comedy-has-no-lady-problem-why-am-i-getting-so-many-511214385.
Williams, L. C. (2016, November 16). The Internet in Trump’s Nation. ThinkProgress. Retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/the-alt-right-and-silicon-valley-3fd72a6e462e.
Wu, B. (2014, July 22). No Skin Thick Enough: The Daily Harassment of Women in the Game Industry. Polygon. Retrieved from http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/22/5926193/women-gaming-harassment.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Linabary, J.R., Batti, B. (2019). “Should I Even Be Writing This?”: Public Narratives and Resistance to Online Harassment. In: Ging, D., Siapera, E. (eds) Gender Hate Online. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96226-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96226-9_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96225-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96226-9
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)