Sind Frauen wirklich am häufigsten Opfer von Online-Mobbing?

Die liberale Feministin Cathy Young stellt der Behauptung, Frauen seien von Attacken im Internet besonders stark betroffen, die Fakten gegenüber und erklärt, wie es zu diesem populären Irrtum kommt. Dabei kommt sie auch auf die vielfältigen Attacken auf Männer zu sprechen sowie auf den Einfluss des Feminismus bei hitzigen Internet-Debatten:

Much of the abuse Hess deplores is directed not simply at women, but at active feminists. This is easy to interpret as misogynist backlash against women’s quest for equality. Yet any honest discussion has to acknowledge the fact that modern feminism is not simply a pro-equality movement but rather, one that has disturbing strands of hate — a movement whose adherents argue that women should treat every man as a potential rapist and that the collective bashing of men is a justified response to women’s oppression. Internet feminists have played a major role in turning online discussion of gender issues into a toxic swamp that naturally attracts trolls.

Blogger and columnist Susannah Breslin often writes about sex-related matters and readily admits to getting her share of sexually abusive online comments. In an email exchange, she stated that she feels sympathy for feminist writers who have been harassed and threatened, but also believes feminist behavior is part of the problem. According to Breslin, "Today's feminism by and large defines itself in relation to men. It's about obsessing over how men are keeping women down and about attacking men for all the wrong they do. This feminism promotes reverse sexism." Moreover, she argues, "Feminists are the new thought police online, self-appointed cops for what men can and can't say on the Internet. And when you establish that as your methodology, men are not going to respond well."

(...) Both Breslin and Wachs have had run-ins with another kind of "gendered" online abuse: feminist trashing of female dissenters. Breslin encountered this in 2010 when she wrote a blogpost on the True Slant site criticizing the vogue for "trigger warnings" on feminist and social justice blogs (based on the idea that the readership is filled with trauma survivors who must be warned about flashback-triggering references to everything from rape to racism). The response was a hatefest in the comments on the post and on several feminist blogs. Breslin was slammed as a "Sister F***er," a "certifiable asshole," and a "cunt." For months after, she says, “an unhinged woman” sent her emails saying that she should be raped and killed.

Caroline Kitchens, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, came under feminist fire last fall after she wrote a column for U.S. News & World Report questioning the existence of a campus rape epidemic. Jezebel.com trashed her as a victim-blaming, slut-shaming man-pleaser and included a link to her Twitter page. Kitchens, a recent college graduate, received such a deluge of abusive tweets that she temporarily stopped using Twitter.