The Dark Side of Twitter

(Warning: some explicit language ahead. Any foul language in the following post is taken directly from real tweets. There are also multiple references to sexual organs.)

Twitter, there are times when I just hate you.

I wake up, thinking that today is going to be a wonderful day because Gloria Steinem gave me such hope with her interview with Katie Couric (video) and segment on The Colbert Report (video). But no, twitter, you had to mess that up for me.

What do I find among the trending topics worldwide as I start checking our various twitter accounts? Hidden amongst #worldcup, vuvuzela, and a bunch of names I've never heard of I find the hashtag #ifihadapenis.

I think my head may have just exploded.

We live in such a penis-worshiping culture that there's a global trend on twitter about what women would do or be like if they had a penis. And most of it comes down to women saying that they'd screw everyone they'd see or how big their penis would be, how they would whip it out every chance they got. There are tweets using the tag with a question on why is such a topic trending, but none of the hundreds of tweets I've seen since I started this post have looked as how this reflects the type of culture we live in.

This trend is just an example of how our culture today still derides women for being women. Women in today's society are something else, something less because we don't have a penis and we are made to know it. And then when we dare to think outside the box, and imagine ourselves in a different body, we end up reaffirming male stereotypes and the behaviors of masculine hegemony, intentionally or not. The vast majority of the tweets also serve to further belittle and dehumanize women (e.g. "#IfIhadapenis I would be fucking alllll yall bitches #wreckless," "Ima beat that p*ssy out of walls #IfIHadAPenis"). Women, as a whole, have been forced to participate in our own humiliation and degradation.

And those daring attempts to imagine a different sex for ourselves are then taken as entertainment for those who are of the privileged sex. Many tweets from men with the hashtag are about how they do all of these things or how funny all the tweets are. There are a few who don't approve, mostly because they just don't want to know that stuff.

One of the most retweeted tweets of the thread, a top tweet on twitter, is "I see females goin in on #IfIHadAPenis ...pretty funny stuff. But I BET NOT see a single dude tweet #IfIHadAVagina ('_')." My hopes weren't high, but curious to see what was posted on #ifihadavagina I searched it. I wish I hadn't. I have not read so many derogatory, sexist, woman-bashing, homophobic, gay-bashing statements all at once since high school study hall. For those of you who are remotely sensitive to insults TRIGGER WARNING. Here are some tweets from #ifihadavagina: "ANY DUDE THAT TWEETS ABOUT #ifihadapuss or #ifihadavagina is getting publicly banned, unfollowed, and ostracized! Some shit u don't say," "#ifIhadaVagina I'd try to make the vuvuzela sound with it," and "who else would go in on it though? women can't. lol RT @_______: If You're a man going in on #IfIHadAVagina you're gay as fuck."

If anyone out there needed any more proof of why we need feminism today, well here you have it. Abortion rights, equal pay, and female genital mutilation are some of the many topics that have the need for change. But while we are on our soapboxes, at the polls, and at capitol hill, we need to remember that not only is this a political revolution, but a cultural revolution as well. Our struggle will never be truly won if we sit by and watch ourselves be insulted and attacked by hegemonic masculinity. But how do we challenge this?

Twitter can be a horrible, horrible thing. But all the things that can make twitter a dismal place to be, also have the power to make twitter a wonderful tool of social awareness and change. Just imagine if instead of #ifihadapenis trending on twitter, we had #ilovemyvagina or #ilovemybody trending? So I say we reclaim trending topics! Let's turn them away from hateful speech and towards a more understanding, accepting, and feminist attitude! To help in your journey, here are some pro-woman hashtag suggestions for your tweets: #feminist, #feminism, #fem2, #prowoman, #ilovemybody, #ilovemyvagina, #ILMB (short for I love my body), #ILMV (short for I love my vagina), #iamwoman, #iamwomanhearmeroar. All the bolded hashtags have at least one tweet with the hashtag in it. The ones that aren't bolded do not have any tweets, but should. Tweet away, fellow feminist tweeters!
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Photo-credit: respres on flickr.com
Cross-posted at Ode to Patriarchy

Tweets from Tehran

This generation is wired to the Internet; any college student could tell you the importance of social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. But for Iranians, these "new kinds of social media" are taking on a serious, political role in the chaotic aftermath of Friday's election. Though the government has been heavily censoring communication in the country - for example, putting down protests, filtering the web, and rejecting requests to extend journalists' expiring visas - Twitter has become a resilient tool for communicating within Iran and with the global community.

A New York Times article described Twitter's increasing importance: "Iranians are blogging, posting to Facebook and, most visibly, coordinating their protests on Twitter, the messaging service. Their activity has increased, not decreased, since the presidential election on Friday and ensuing attempts by the government to restrict or censor their online communications." 30 new tweets with the tag "#IranElection" were added every minute on Monday evening.

The article goes on to explain why Twitter is thriving despite the government crackdown. Jonathon Zittrain of Harvard Law School pointed out that there are "so many ways for its posts to originate — from a phone, a Web browser or specialized applications — and so many outlets for those posts to appear." Furthermore, Iranians are increasingly taking advantage of Internet proxies, which enable web access from remote servers.

All of this helps explain why the State Department urged Twitter to delay its scheduled maintenance, which Laura wrote about yesterday. Who knew "tweeting" could be so serious?

Try to deny the importance of Twitter...I dare you!

I am openly a twitter-phobe, in that I have been avoiding signing up for an account at all costs, for fear of becoming addicted. Why do people need to know where I ate for lunch, or what I'm thinking every 10 minutes? They don't, but Twitter is obviously an incredible tool for social mobilization. Adding to Lizz's previous blog post about the importance of Twitter, there is no getting around the fact that Twitter is growing at an exponential rate. Twitter is responsible for the quick spreading of news after Dr. Tiller's assassination, and our own FMF relies heavily on Twitter to keep our members in the know (shameless plug).

According to Reuters news, the US State Department contacted Twitter's headquarters, asking Twitter officials to stall current plans for a Twitter update, which had been planned for Tuesday. The Obama Administration realized the importance of Twitter, and the need for youth to be able to stay in contact with one another during the current political activity in Iran. Officials explained that if the US were to upgrade Twitter, it would make the site unavailable to the thousands of users in Iran, and the US would thus be accused of trying to intervene in Iran's election.

No, I'm not signing up for a personal Twitter account any time soon, but I certainly now see the importance of it on an international level.

CNN Fail: How the Mainstream Media is losing to Web 2.0

This Saturday, as violent protests about Iran's presidential election continued in the streets of Tehran, Howard Kurtz had an important scoop.

The CNN anchor was moderating a discussion about Twitter's relevance in an increasingly internet-dependent society. As he made arguments about whether or not Twitter was a sign of our culture's impending narcissistic Tweet-pocalypse, the Iranian government was shutting down cell phone service and e-mail providers around the country. Journalists were being silenced and police were opening fire on dormitories at the University of Tehran. And one of the only ways to send information in Iran? Twitter.

The networking site formerly known for its ability to give self-important internetters a place to tell the world about their new haircut (I use it religiously...) has proved this weekend that it can also serve as an organizing tool for causes of the utmost importance, and a news outlet when the mainstream media can't get their shit together.

CNN can think what they want about Twitter; the revolution is here, and it's 140 characters.

You can follow Feminist Campus on Twitter here.
Andrew Sullivan's live feed of tweets from Iranians at the center of the conflict can be found here.

Photo Credit: twitter.com

Earth Day is next week!

Next Wednesday, April 22nd is Earth Day! Here at FMF we're super excited about the opportunity to talk about how women's rights and the conservation movement overlap.

On our Twitter a few days ago, we asked for some ecofeminist event ideas. Here's a few of the first couple of responses!

@AWFJ @feministcampus Group up to watch great environmental documentaries http://tinyurl.com/ct8awa and take action!

@ecomarci @feministcampus host a party about sustainable alternative to tampons and decorate your old, unused tampons!

@mynameismeg @feministcampus WKU is having a party in front of the WS building. Local food, tie dye, music and handing out ecofeminism info to passersby.

These are great ideas, thanks to @AWFJ, @ecomarci, and @mynameismeg! What else are the rest of you planning? Let us know with an @reply on Twitter or in the comments below, we love to share your ideas.

On a related note, keep an eye out soon for a new ecofeminist campaign from us - FMF's Women and Water campaign is coming soon!

Find out what NYWLC participants said about day one!

Day one of the National Young Women's Leadership Conference: From Campus to Congress has ended and it was amazing! Here from conference participants about how they felt the first day went:



We are blogging and tweeting live from the conference. Follow us on the conference twitter widget; we will be using the hash tag #nywlc for all conference-related tweets. You can also follow us on the campus blog.

Countdown to the National Young Women's Leadership Conference

The National Young Women's Leadership Conference will begin this Saturday, March 21, at 8:30 am. Check out our countdown here.

Not able to attend the conference? Check out the opening plenary, livestreaming at 10 am on Saturday at http://www.ustream.tv/. You can also follow participants on twitter by using the hashtag #nywlc

Join the feminist network, even if you can't make it to DC!