Cathy Young: Cybermobbing stellt Vorurteile über die Geschlechter in Frage

The appalling story of the suicide of a 12-year-old Florida girl who had endured months of vicious online and in-person harassment, and the arrest last week of two of her alleged tormentors -- ages 12 and 14 -- raises tough questions about bullying, the role of social media in children's lives, and adult responsibility. But the tragedy also reminds us of a basic truth often overlooked in our age of feminist consciousness: human cruelty knows no gender.

The bullies who hounded Rebecca Ann Sedwick -- taunting her and picking fights at school, then continuing the persecution by cellphone and telling her to kill herself -- were all girls, more than a dozen. The ringleader, according to the authorities, was the 14-year-old now facing charges of aggravated stalking. She is reported to have started her vendetta because her boyfriend had once dated Rebecca, and to have not only bullied the victim herself, but also terrorized other girls into shunning her. Shortly before her arrest, authorities say, the girl posted a Facebook message saying, in crude terms, that she didn't care about Rebecca's suicide. (Police say the girl has denied posting the message, saying her account was hacked.)

(...) Some feminists argue that girl-on-girl bullying is the result of internalized misogyny, of a patriarchal culture that pits girls and women against each other. But what about boys who abuse and bully other boys? Or, for that matter, girls who bully boys? Two years ago in another Florida town, three 14-year-old girls assaulted an 11-year-old boy in public, stripping him naked while he struggled and screamed; one girl filmed the "prank" and posted the video on YouTube. (The boy's mother chose not to file charges.)'

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