Call-In, Call-Out, Care, and Cool Rationality: How Young Adults Respond to Racism and Sexism Online

Abstract

Abstract Despite the ubiquitous nature of racist and sexist discourses online, and evidence that racism and sexism are built into the architecture of online spaces, relatively little is known about how people respond to online inequalities. Using interview data with 60 young adults, I identify four response strategies which reproduce and contest racism and sexism in distinct ways. Viewing the problem as one of ignorance, white women and men of color are most likely to call-in and educate others about the emotional harm and fallacies of racism and sexism. Women of color call-out harassers, by rebutting misinformation and hate speech; they also check in, validate, and care for other women of color as a form of resistance. Focusing on so-called logic, facts, and cool rationality, white men intellectualize discrimination online. These responses are structured by race and gender, meaning they are outcomes of how discrimination is experienced and justified more broadly. This work draws further attention to the need to refine theories of racism and sexism, which do not yet take into account the cultural and structural implications of the consequences of online interactions.