Emma A. Jane

“Your a Ugly, Whorish, Slut”

In recent years, the mainstream media has identified on-line vitriol as a worsening problem which is silencing women in public discourse, and is having a deleterious effect on the civility of the public cybersphere. This article examines the disconnect between representations of “e-bile” in media texts, and representations of e-bile in academic literature. An exhaustive review of thirty years of academic work on “flaming” shows that many theorists have routinely trivialized the experiences of flame targets, while downplaying, defending, and/or celebrating the discourse circulated by flame producers. Much contemporary scholarship, meanwhile, ignores e-bile completely. My argument is that this constitutes a form of chauvinism (in that it disregards womens experiences in on-line environments) and represents a failure of both theoretical acuity and nerve (given that it evades such a pervasive aspect of contemporary culture). The aim of this paper is not only to help establish the importance of on-line vitriol as a topic for interdisciplinary scholarly research, but to assist in establishing a theoretical problematic where what is seen is barely regarded as a problem. Overall, my argument is that—far from being a technology-related moral panic—e-bile constitutes a field of inquiry with a pressing need for recalibrated scholarly intervention.

‘Back to the kitchen, cunt’: speaking the unspeakable about online misogyny

This article explores the signal characteristics of gendered vitriol on the Internet – a type of discourse marked by graphic threats of sexual violence, explicit ad hominem invective and unapologetic misogyny. Such ‘e-bile’ is proliferating in the cybersphere and is currently the subject of widespread international media coverage. Yet it receives little attention in scholarship. This is likely related to the fact that discourse of this type is metaphorically ‘unspeakable’, in that its hyperbolic profanity locates it well outside the norms of what is regarded as ‘civil’ discourse. My case, however, is that – despite the risk of causing offence – this discourse must not only be spoken of, but must be spoken of in its unexpurgated entirety. There is, I argue, no other way to adequately assay the nature of a communication mode whose misogynistic hostility has serious ethical and material implications, not least because it has become a lingua franca in many sectors of the cybersphere. Proceeding via unexpurgated ostension is also the best – arguably the only – way to begin mapping the blurry parameters of the discursive field of e-bile, and from there to conduct further inquiry into the ethical appraisal of putative online hostility, and the consideration of possible remedies.

Online misogyny and feminist digilantism

Abstract This article examines contemporary feminist ‘digilante’ responses to the increasing problem of misogyny online. In particular, it focuses on female gamers and a recent incident in which the Australian gamer Alanah Pearce responded to threats of sexual violence from young male Internet users by alerting their mothers. Pearce’s move was celebrated in international media commentary as the ‘perfect’ solution to the problem of online rape threats. This article, however, argues that while ‘do-it-yourself’ strategies such as Pearce’s have some benefits, unsupplemented, they do not constitute an adequate solution to the broader problem of gendered vitriol online. Further, they comport with a wider trend which shifts the burden of responsibility for the problem of gendered cyber-hate from perpetrators to targets, and from the public to the private sphere. Over the course of this article, I will show that the contemporary problem of gendered ‘e-bile’ has parallels with some key social issues addressed by second-wave feminism. As such, I argue that a hybrid of feminist activist efforts – including a recalibrated approach to collectivism – is required to achieve the legislative and corporate reforms necessary to address the significant social problem of gendered hate on the Internet.

Beyond antifandom: Cheerleading, textual hate and new media ethics:

Drawing on a case study involving mediated vitriol targeting cheerleaders, this article identifies two potentially problematic aspects of the media studies concept of antifandom. First, it critiques the classification of vitriolic texts produced by antifans as belonging primarily to the field of audiences and reception. It argues that this move risks sidelining the fact that antifan discourse also constitutes a set of influential texts authored by a group of powerful textual producers. Second, it questions the designation of the human targets of antifandom as texts. This risks underplaying the ethical dimensions of the en masse articulation of vitriol towards human targets.

‘Dude … stop the spread’: antagonism, agonism, and #manspreading on social media

Feminist campaigns on social media platforms have recently targeted ‘manspreading’ – a portmanteau describing men who sit in a way which fills multiple seats on public transport. Feminists claim this form of everyday sexism exemplifies male entitlement and have responded by posting candid online photographs of men caught manspreading. These ‘naming and shaming’ digilante strategies have been met with vitriolic responses from men’s rights activists. This article uses debates around manspreading to explore and appraise some key features of contemporary feminist activism online. Given the heat, amplification, and seemingly intractable nature of the argument, it investigates the usefulness of Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic pluralism to unpack the conflict. Ultimately, however, agonistic theory is found to have limits – in terms of this case study as well as more broadly. Some final thoughts are offered on how feminists might best navigate the pitfalls of online activism – including the problem of ‘false balance’ – going forward.

Is Debbie Does Dallas dangerous? Representations of cheerleading in pornography and some possible effects

Abstract Commonly depicted as a focus of universal heterosexual male desire, cheerleaders are a recurring theme in Western pornography and loom large in the pornographic imaginary. This article maps manifestations of cheerleading-themed pornography since the 1970s, and shows the way sexualized representations of cheerleading in pornography circulate alongside related representations in non-pornographic media domains. An analysis of these framings is then used to venture a claim about the possible impact of these combined depictions on the lived realities of cheerleaders. Specifically, I argue that discourse which sexualizes, trivializes, and stereotypes cheerleaders contributes to the fact that cheerleading suffers from a disempowering reputational deficit. This, in turn, can be linked to—among other problems—the paucity of regulation and profusion of preventable injury associated with the sport. This article’s aim is thus to closely examine cheerleading-themed pornography with an eye to understanding how these depictions—in combination with other media representations—negatively impact cheerleaders’ practice and wellbeing.

Systemic misogyny exposed: Translating Rapeglish from the Manosphere with a Random Rape Threat Generator:

Misogyny online in forms such as explicit rape threats has become so prevalent and rhetorically distinctive it resembles a new dialect or language. Much of this ‘Rapeglish’ is produced by members of an informal alliance of men’s groups online dubbed the ‘Manosphere’. As both a cyberhate researcher and cyberhate target, I have studied as well as contributed to feminist responses to Rapeglish. In 2016, for instance, I helped build a Random Rape Threat Generator (RRTG) – a computer program that splices, shuffles around, and re-stitches in novel combinations fragments of real-life Rapeglish to illustrate the formulaic, machine-like, and impersonal nature of misogynist discourse online. This article uses Yuri Lotman’s ideas about intra- and inter-cultural conflict involving something akin to the translation of a foreign language to frame the RRTG as one example of the way women are ‘talking back’ both to and with Rapeglish (the latter involving appropriations and subversions of the original discourse).

Feminist Digilante Responses to a Slut-Shaming on Facebook:

This article examines feminist digilantism in response to the “slut-shaming” of an Australian woman on Facebook in 2015. The activism is used to highlight the nature and significance of the feminist pushback against the worsening problem of cyber violence against women and girls (cyber VAWG). This article builds on my previous research into feminist digilantism and is part of a much larger, mixed-methods, multi-modal study into gendered cyberhate. It uses approaches from Internet historiography, ethnography, and netnography, alongside data drawn from qualitative interviews. Sufficient evidence is available to support the broad argument that the feminist digilantism involved in the case study under analysis was efficacious as well as ethically justified given the dearth of institutional interventions. That said, I demonstrate that while such activism has benefits, it also has risks and disadvantages, and raises ethical issues. This critique of digilantism is not intended as yet another type of victim blaming which suggests the activist responses of cyberhate targets are flawed. Instead, my case is that appraising the efficacy and ethics of such forms of extrajudicial activism should take place within a framing acknowledging that these actions are primarily diagnostic of rather than a solution to cyber VAWG. As such, the increasing prevalence and strength of feminist digilantism lends further support to the case that gendered cyberhate is a problem demanding urgent and multifaceted intervention.

Gendered cyberhate as workplace harassment and economic vandalism

Abstract Research into the proliferation of abuse and harassment currently being directed towards women online is in its early stages and could arguably benefit from: (1) the provision of more case studies for discussion; and (2) a focus on specific dimensions of the gendered cyberhate problem rather than on the issue as a whole. This article responds to these research gaps by providing 15 new Australian case studies focusing on one particular ramification of cyber abuse and harassment abuse: the adverse impact on women’s livelihoods. These show that women workers who receive gendered cyberhate in forms that constitute a form of workplace harassment and/or economic vandalism have few to no means of obtaining support or redress. This is due to a combination of: “precarious” work circumstances; a blurring of personal and professional contexts; and the fact that emerging, electronic iterations of workplace abuse and harassment tend to slip between the cracks of existing laws and policies (which are already barely adequate).