Last week I published a CNN essay on rape culture. It was reasonably widely read – some tens of thousands of people at least, 1000 comments, 7400 shares, hundreds of tweets. I think I did a pretty good job. And then I braced for impact.
When I wrote about Jenny McCarthy last summer, I got some of hate mail, disagreement mail, conspiracy theory mail, and so forth. When I wrote about Pope Francis, I got some anti-Catholic mail and covering-up-pedophilia hate mail. It’s never been too bad though.
But when people write or speak about rape culture, they get hate mail, death threats, rape threats, and more. So yesterday, I decided I would share all of the hate mail I got in the wake of my CNN piece.
Of course, I am a guy. A straight, white, married, man.
It’s not that I want threats or hate mail, it’s that I think the lack of them in my case is significant of the broader problem faced by women online or women speaking in public in western culture more generally.
David, thanks for posting this. It speaks volumes. Though–I am glad you didn't get hate mail! 🙂