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.