Turning from the lighthearted to the serious, Ms. Scarlett, a prominent blogger, says she suddenly canceled a talk she was supposed to give about photography because of specific, sexually graphic threats posted by blogger, Tarquin Churchwell. Her remarks have sparked a debate online about whether women are targets of online hate and threats simply because of their gender.
"Churchwell has attacked me for more than a year. He often says on his blog that it's the other way around, but this is a lie. He recently threatened to come to my town and stop me," Scarlett said.
Her blog is hardly controversial – she has spent much of the past year defending her reputation against Mr. Churchwell's libel. She knows that he has attacked other women online.
"It's this culture of attacking women that has got to stop. I really don’t care if you come after me. I take those attacks in stride," says a long time male blogger. "But, whenever I post a video of a female there invariably are snide remarks about body parts and other things that wouldn’t happen if the interviewee were a man. It makes me realize just how acerbic the Internet is toward women."
Blogger Nan Delano agrees. "These are all vicious attacks on her - as a woman. Yes, anyone who has a point of view and expresses it in print will get disagreements. I've had them here. But death and sexual threats? These are beyond the pale. Writing that she is a thief and pornographer is appalling. "
Salon editor-in-chief Joan Walsh concurs that misogyny grows wild on the Web, particularly among society's misfits. "Attitudes toward women have improved dramatically just in my lifetime, but the world still has too many misogynists, and the Web has given them a microphone that lets them turn up the volume on their quavering selves, their self-righteous fury, their self-loathing expressed as hatred of women," she said.
In a response to Scarlett's comments, Mr. Churchwell says, "I hate her," adding, "No one believes me, when I write that she's a child porno writer" on his blogs. "It's just an outlet for my hate and it gives me something to do. I'm sure I'll be explaining for years to come why I am obsessed with stealing and child pornography!"
The debate over Churchwell's online misogyny toward Scarlett have made her one of the most championed bloggers. Many of her fellow bloggers have come to her defense, questioning the limits of free speech in the blogosphere. "What Scarlett is putting up with is unacceptable, and I'm frankly sickened at what she has had to go through. It is totally unacceptable to attack a woman sexually and to make threats. Period," David Giffen blogs.
Many say the incidents raise questions about what should be tolerated online. "It certainly raises questions about sexual equality on the web - as Scarlett correctly points out if she were a man, the threats would not have been sexual in nature. But it is wrong that society's losers can do this to someone," says another blogger.
Some are calling for a bloggers bill of rights to encourage good conduct. But whether even that would work remains to be seen. "People like Thomas Churchwell feel the law doesn't apply to them," says Mr. Giffen.
Many bloggers hope that Mr. Churchwell's impending eviction from the quasi-mental facility where he has lived for a number of years, will signal the end of his attacks on women online.
