Monday, 2 June 2014

Elliot Rodger wasn't alone: The sexists, racists and homophobes going public on Twitter

CRAZED California murderer Elliot Rodger used various online forums to rant about his extreme hatred of women in the months leading up to his infamous killing spree. 

This so-called 'manosphere' of 'incel' - or involuntary celibate - sites and blogs exist for angry men to paint themselves as victims of a heartless, ruthless sex culture that's ignored them. They take out their loneliness on members of the opposite sex. 
Elliot Rodger
But sexism isn't the only type of hatred shouting loudly on the internet. And the little-known incel forums aren't the only places these views can be found. Increasingly, people with an axe to grind are taking to much more public social networks to preach their hatred. 



















I went onto Twitter to search out this sexism, racism and homophobia. I wanted to know how much of it there is, and just how public these people are prepared to be. 

 Much of what I found is not nice, to say the least. But ignoring them won't just make it go away, and I think it's important to look objectively at these extreme, troubled opinions with a clear head. 

 I've listed some below so that you won't have to worry about YOUR search history being as questionable as mine now is.

 WARNING: The rest of this blog contains extremely offensive language. In case it isn't already clear, I'm using these tweets only as examples of views which I personally find absolutely abhorrent.

 Sexism

Misogyny and hatred towards women is often dressed up as 'Men's Rights'. This is misleading though. It gives the impression that the activists are campaigning about a genuine cause, when it is often just an excuse for thoughtless, unadulterated hatred. 




Homophobia

 A great deal of homophobic ranting on Twitter is dressed up as banter - the sort of stuff they still struggle to stamp out in schools (ie. 'That is so gay' or 'Why are you being such a queer?'). But not all of it follows this pattern. Some people are just spontaneously nasty.



Racism

 Just like in the real world, racism takes many forms on Twitter. Some people regard their views as patriotism and often aim jibes specifically at immigrants. You also find, as in the real world, that some have hatred only for a specific race. Others are indiscriminate in their discrimination.





So why am I showing you all this? 

The sheer volume of hatred of all kinds on Twitter - and there is a lot -  means there are clearly issues that need to be subject to public debate. Some would argue that Twitter itself should be more strict in censoring these views. I would absolutely disagree.

 Facebook has far stricter rules on censorship, which is one of the many reasons I think it's an inferior social network. Censorship essentially patronises users, telling them they are too stupid or irresponsible to make up their own minds about the offensive views of others. 


I have included the above tweets in this blog precisely because I want you, the reader, to make up your own mind about them and think about the reasons they exist in the first place. 

 When you publish to Twitter, you publish to the world. Users know this, so the people writing these comments must believe their views to be valid on on some level. The way to combat this is not by censoring them - that would just send them underground or onto the more private forums like the ones Elliot Rodger used. 


Instead, we should challenge them, write about them, and articulate clearly why these type of views don't hold any water. Everyone has the right to an opinion, after all. But we are all entitled to confront those we don't agree with.

 Extreme views are nothing new. But social media has now given us all a great means of exposing and questioning them. Let's use it.



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