What she said


So there’s this atheist comedian Kate Smurthwaite who did a BBC1 chat thing which went viral, and she got the kind of comments that women get. She posted a selection, and they’re…the kind of comments that women get. There was one about the trash-talking cunt getting her tongue ripped out, and more than one about how she needs to be gang-raped.

And she comments a little.

Interesting to see how a lot of people actually feel. I know almost no-one
would say these horrid things to my face. So in a sense it’s good that the
Internet lets women and other groups see how much some people really hate us.

In a sense, but only in a sense. It’s good to know but it’s also not good to know. If you were planning to be friends with anyone who says shit like that, it’s good to know, but otherwise…it’s probably better just to live out your life in sappy ignorance, happily thinking that most people don’t think or say shit like that. I don’t feel enriched by the squalid ugliness I’ve been seeing for the past few months.

Interesting and horrifying how quickly it all comes back to rape time after
time. There are also a fair few people complaining that the clip doesn’t show
the “bitch” actually getting slapped and posted by people who were clearly
looking for pornography. If anyone ever tells you we don’t live in a “rape
culture” world – show them this. It’s frightening but it does highlight the need
for action to bring about dramatic change.

Yes. And yet ignorance of this kind of thing does look so like bliss, at times.

Comments

  1. julian says

    I’m sorry this sort of behavior gets a pass from most people. No one deserves to be treated like that and calling for it to stop should never depend on how much you like someone or approve of their behavior.

  2. Tim Groc says

    I actually saw this went it was broadcast a couple of months ago. It was amusing, but not that offensive, and there were plenty of religious folk in the audience there to shout her down – which they did. Some of the theists also came out with the crap about Stalin and Hitler (LOL) being representative of atheism, which is actually a far more offensive thing to say than calling someone stupid.

    I think this is the same programme which has had Richard Dawkins on a few times trying to speak sense in front of what always seems to be, erm, ‘passionate’ opposition from theists. I remember a woman making known her concerns about homosexuality and how it is against Christian teachings. She was sitting next to a certain Peter Tatchell at the time!!!

  3. Roger says

    Interesting to see how a lot of people actually feel. I know almost no-one would say these horrid things to my face.

    Actually, Kate Smurthwaite probably knows absolutely no-one who would say these horrid things to her face. Probably a lot of people who say things like that actually mean them and would do them of they could. It is frightening how people behave when they think they are morally justified and/or can get away with it. A frightening example of such logic is the habit of raping lesbians to “cure” them and then killing them anyway, which suggests a lack of faith in the cure.

  4. Rudi says

    A disturbing parallel is the squalid racism you frequently see in YT comments. If nothing else, these comments serve the useful purpose of reminding us that the battle is far from won.

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