Here Are the 157 Hate Tweets a Feminist Faced in One Week

“If you ever come to Europe I will rape you into oblivion.”


Sarkeesian death threat

Anita Sarkeesian

Men’s rights activists, who have often targeted women using harsh verbal attacks, maintain that their movement’s goal is “to create equality.” Judging by the ongoing assault against feminist commentator Anita Sarkeesian, that goal remains an uphill battle.

Sarkeesian says she’s been harassed online every day since she started her “Tropes vs Women in Video Games” YouTube series two and a half years ago. “It can sometimes be difficult to effectively communicate just how bad this sustained intimidation campaign really is,” she wrote on her Tumblr this week. “So I’ve taken the liberty of collecting a week’s worth of hateful messages sent to me on Twitter.” She published all 157 of them. Their contents may be predictable enough, but they’re chilling nonetheless:

Sarkeesian hate tweets

Anita Sarkeesian

A Voice for Men, an online hub of the men’s rights movement, does not appear to be sympathetic to Sarkeesian’s plight. As Mother Jones reported this week, the group has accused Sarkeesian of profiting from death threats that forced her to cancel a speech at Utah State University last October. “The fact that Anita Sarkeesian manages to remain miraculously unscathed… amidst her numerous, unsupported claims of threats to her person is only a minor reason for my cynicism,” a contributor using the name “Andy Bob” wrote on A Voice For Men’s website. “So is her uncanny ability to time these damseling episodes for maximum effect, publicity, and fiscal reward.”

The FBI opened an investigation into the threats against Sarkeesian after they turned frighteningly personal and drove her to flee her home last fall.

Courtesy of Anita Sarkeesian

But the barrage of misogyny hasn’t stopped Sarkeesian from speaking out about sexism in video games and online culture—far from it. In 2015 she’s planning to launch a YouTube series about how men are represented in games and a miniseries about positive representations of women, according to the newly published annual report for her nonprofit. She’ll also discuss her work and the backlash against it at Brandeis University on Feb. 9. The school’s security arrangements for the event include metal detectors and ID checks at the door.

Sarkeesian hate tweets

Anita Sarkeesian

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate