Stephen Marche's Essay 'The Epidemic Of Facelessness'

The Cloak of Anonymity While scrolling through Instagram, I found that on many celebrities' profiles, there were many In his essay, "The Epidemic of Facelessness," Stephen Marche argues that the introduction of new communication methods, such as social media, have allowed for inhumane behavior. Because of facelessness, the people responsible for this online outrage usually are not held accountable for their actions. Marche creates an informative tone and uses allusions to educate the audience on the this serious topic of "online monstrosity" (1). March begins by talking about how member of the British Parliament, Stella Creasy, was threatened by a man who "tweeted and retweeted violent messages to [her]" (1). Creasy responded by claiming that she had "fears for her physical safety" and thought about "installing a panic button in her home" (1). After hearing this, readers express sympathy towards her, and think about how vicious people can be online. People in the digital space are so vulnerable to online abuse since the Internet is "the world without faces" (1). As the Internet continues to expand, these online monstrosities will continue to threaten the ideals of justice and ethnics. March includes Stella Creasy and online rape notes (1),

He explains that the face "has been at the root of justice and ethnics for 2,000 years," and that "the right to face the accuser" is in the confrontation clause in the U.S. Constitution (2). Also, in Rome, "no man could be sentenced to death without first seeing his accuser" (2). These allusions label the face as a symbol of justice. March then uses scientific research to prove that the face causes individuals to "respond compassionately" to others and express ethical behavior (2). Again, March includes these ideas to show that the face is what links us to humanity, but when it is nonexistent, we act like ferocious