Thanks for the critique! I absolutely agree that, as a straight cis White man, it’s easy for me to downplay the stakes of attacks from bad actors like Rufo. I apologize if that tone came across in this, admittedly breezy and jokey piece. I don’t believe in “oh it’s not that bad, just ignore it” as a response to the individual harassment that women, people of color, queer and trans people face online. I would offer that’s all the more reason for institutions (like Harvard and NPR) to not give in to Rufo’s pressure campaigns. Doing so falsely inflates his level of institutional influence, making it more likely not only that he will continue with this particular bad faith strategy, but that his followers will couple that with individual harassment. Happy to hear more counterpoint/critique though.
You make this sound so breezy--as if the simple course of action is just ignore the bully. I can't stop comparing what I've read here to this post: https://aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/thats-how-it-works-when-youre-a-woman , which is closer to my lived experience.
I would love to hear your take on this!
Thanks for the critique! I absolutely agree that, as a straight cis White man, it’s easy for me to downplay the stakes of attacks from bad actors like Rufo. I apologize if that tone came across in this, admittedly breezy and jokey piece. I don’t believe in “oh it’s not that bad, just ignore it” as a response to the individual harassment that women, people of color, queer and trans people face online. I would offer that’s all the more reason for institutions (like Harvard and NPR) to not give in to Rufo’s pressure campaigns. Doing so falsely inflates his level of institutional influence, making it more likely not only that he will continue with this particular bad faith strategy, but that his followers will couple that with individual harassment. Happy to hear more counterpoint/critique though.