jwalsh@bbn.com (Jamie Walsh) (12/08/88)
Apologies to those who genuinely feel they have been suppressed by
discrimination on the net, but I don't feel it is a real issue. I think
most people receiving hate mail are primarily getting it because they are
posting in a hostile manner on volatile topics, not because of their sex,
race, or religion.
The only vile mail I've ever gotten was from people wanting to know "how
dare I as a man presume to speak for women" (from women and men), at which
point I would make it clear that I'm a woman, not a man. Most of the time,
I don't think my gender is relevant to the postings, so I don't go out of
the way to mention it unless I think it changes the context. I have never
noticed any difference in reaction to my postings before and after
declaring my gender, except for those 'presuming' incidents.
But then, I rarely read or post to soc.anything, so perhaps the problem is
primarily contained in the soc.* groups.
I object to a woman's statement in a previous article that "women are much
more easily intimidated than men", at the very least when this is stated in
terms of the net. If I ever got vile hate mail, I would just forward it to
the postmaster of the origin machine, and delete it. Why get upset? It's
probably just the verbal equivalent of "getting the finger" anyway. What
is so scary about it? If someone said to me in person during an argument,
"F__k off and die _____ bitch", I would probably say "dry up and blow
away," and walk away. What's the big deal? I fail to understand what is
so imtimidating about hate mail, especially since the poster is probably so
far away that the transportation costs are far too great to try to carry a
threat out, even if the jerk could find you in the first place.
Perhaps I'm less easily intimidated than most women, though. My typical
reaction to an obscene phone call is, "go find yourself a real live partner
and stop boring me *click*." or "yeah? well take a number and stand way in
the back, buddy *click*."
-- jamie (jwalsh@cc6.bbn.com
!harvard!bbn!jwalsh)
"There's a seeker born every minute."