Sarkeesian Illustrates Two Negative Effects Of Social Media On Women

Prior to the creation of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr , communicating an idea to large numbers of people was slow and limited. What options did exist were flawed: newspapers edit and monitor the editorials they choose to publish, and social mobilization requires phone calls and handwriting letters-- a time consuming and labor intensive task. Social Media replaces editorials with blog posts that cannot be censored, and Facebook groups with the time and location of protests, replace slow and expensive phone campaigns. Furthermore, the internet allows people around the world to discuss current events in real time.

For example: In 2014, after feeling shafted when multiple women turned down his romantic and sexual advances,

Just as the internet provides a quick way for social movements to mobilize it allowed Sarkeesian’s detractors to find each other . Without the internet, the response to her lecture at USU would never have been so severe, and she likely wouldn’t have had to cancel her lecture. The second effect is, in my opinion, worse. By providing a way for anti-feminsts to publicly voice their opinions, Social Media has made speaking out against sexism dangerous, and the dangers painfully apparent. This can potentially scare off young women from voicing their opinion for fear that they will be harassed in a way similar to

Protests are now easier than ever to both plan and attract supporters. Connie Jeske Crane’s article titled "Social Media As A Feminist Tool" cites “SlutWalk” : an annual march that protests victim blaming in cases of rape and sexual harassment, had its genesis on Facebook (14). In 2011 a Toronto police constable talking to a group of female students gave them a piece of well meaning yet highly problematic advice- women should “avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized” (14). Founder of SlutWalk, Heather Jarvis, read about this via a Facebook post and was outraged. A victim-blaming idea being perpetuated is never desirable, and is even worse when done by a member of law enforcement. So, Jarvis’ idea of a protest in which empowered women would don skimpy clothes while reminding society that women are never “asking for it” was born.These protestors take the word “slut” which is commonly used (even by women themselves!) as a mean of shaming the female population and reclaim it to be empowering while simultaneously exposing why the word is harmful in the first place. What started out as 1,000 participants during its first rally in 2011 has since become an international phenomenon; Spring 2013 saw over 200 SlutWalks in a smorgasbord of cities, states and countries--from Seoul, South Korea to