Attack on Online Mesogyny

      We watched this video in class and something about it stuck with me. It is very interesting to see the way that people can express themselves within YouTube and I like the way this women presents and defends feminism. She does it in a way that is not offensive to those who are not feminist and even men who have no interest in feminism can listen and learn something.

       This video is about online misogyny, something that I knew existed, however I did not know to what extent. Just looking at the responses that this video received, I believe she has a valid point as some of them are very offensive. One of the videos for example simply asks her “What the fuck are you doing out of the kitchen?” I couldn’t believe it! I think he was only doing it for the shock value and attention however comments like that are very offensive.

       Many of the comments on this video were from other men telling him that he was wrong and that women should be equal to men. They acknowledge that there are still inequalities which means that her message is not lost on everyone, specifically men.    

       According to feminists theorists such as Dow, there are two different views that feminists hold of the media. The first is that they believe that the media supports and tries to enable women’s secondary status in societies and the second explores the way the media could be used to promote and spread their ideas, status and political power. It is clear that she has used the second view and is using the Internet and YouTube in order to share her thoughts, ideas and ideology with others.

       I think that the Internet is a very powerful tool for expressing thoughts and feelings with a large audience. It has opened up the door to the audience who is not converted as it is easy to stumble upon videos and websites when not meaning to. I think her videos are interesting and a lot of different types of people can watch, learn and be entertained.

       I hate to say this but sometimes there are feminists who get on my nerves because in a way they just put men down, which really is not fair and does not help their cause. In this video she simply talks about the behavior of particular men online and is able to keep this in perspective that it is not all men!

March 13, 2009. YouTube.