Thread. There is, and always has been, a double standard. Male passion is seen as positive, or at least tolerable. Women's passion is seen as ill tempered and often vile.
Consider this tweet. It meets all the criteria that, supposedly, sired the recent hate mob. It's rude, intemperate, threatens blocks, uses insults, and even has what some people could twist into "reverse bigotry" (antagonising non-Japanese speakers).
Well, where's Kamiya's mob?
Well, where's Kamiya's mob?
There are, of course, differing opinions here. Kamiya's behaviour has been called unprofessional and rude by some of his fans. And there is also a history here of "hostile" language. Just image search "Hideki Kamiya calls people names on Twitter" to get a few choice samples.
But the fan response is dramatically different overall. Opposition is muted and never coalesces into a campaign or a mob, and is outweighed by enthusiasm. Consider these forum posts discussing his Twitter persona.
A man gets to "tell it like it is." A woman is a "screeching bitch" (a phrase used more than once by Price's detractors to describe her).
Who must suffer fools gladly? And who will be praised for refusing to do so? Who will be allowed to define 'fool' for themselves?
Who must suffer fools gladly? And who will be praised for refusing to do so? Who will be allowed to define 'fool' for themselves?
Kamiya has responded this way to polite queries. He even poked at GG itself. Called them idiots!
This is as close to a perfect A-B test as we can get here, between him and Price. And yet there was a clear difference.
This is as close to a perfect A-B test as we can get here, between him and Price. And yet there was a clear difference.
Gender makes a huge difference. So does pointing out sexism or other prejudices--one does tend to inspire quite a lot of rage that way. In her case, Price was loathed because she was seen as a rude woman who didn't know her place *and* a feminist. Arguably a worse sin.
Of course, few social phenomena are monocausal. Gender isn't the only thing at play here; there are the labour issues I've discussed at Gama today, for instance. And there's also internet celebrity. See this excellent @InnuendoStudios video:
So no, I'm not saying this can't happen to someone who isn't a woman. Gender just refracts, and occasionally intensifies these phenomena in ways that should be obvious (through certain double standards, use of language, etc.)
And of course, there's the issue of a threshhold. What line do you have to cross before you tip the balance from loveable scoundrel to hated asshole? For women, that line feels much closer to baseline than it is for men. But it's not impossible for men to cross it either.
Anyway, the people who need to read those qualifiers probably won't and will still accuse me of making this "ALL ABOUT GENDAAAAR!" but c'est la vie.
