Why activists and feminists get so many death threats

Why activists and feminists get so many death threats
Activists of all stripes reflect on the dangers of standing up for controversial ideas in the age of social media
Valerie Tarico, AlterNet

More than twenty years have passed, but Jonathan Huston still vividly remembers one specific day during his stint as editor of a New Hampshire weekly.

(I was) writing a series on the titans of trash — about racketeering by the nation’s two largest garbage haulers. A lawyer came to my office one day to convey a warning about my latest investigative reporting.

“Jonathan, I hope I don’t open up the pages of the Union Leader one day,” he said, “to read that the editor of a certain weekly newspaper got into his car, turned over the ignition, and got blown sky high.”

“That shall not happen,” I said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I don’t own a car.”

To some extent the specter of violent death hangs over us all, lurking at the edge of consciousness most of the time, perhaps brought into focus by a mass shooting in which victims remind us of our children or friends, or of ourselves. Or maybe we are shaken by a local story about domestic violence, a murder suicide, a drive by, or road rage turned lethal.

For women in particular, the threat never completely disappears. A cartoon that made its way around Facebook underscores the point. On one side a thought bubble above a male figure reads, “What if she gave me a fake number?” On the other, a bubble above a female says, “What if he rapes and kills me?”

Mercifully, for most of us most of the time, the risk of violence seems small and distant. Even so, it can shape how we live. It can make us hesitate to say no. Or yes. It can make us hesitate to stay home alone. Or go out at night. Or speak our minds.

Fear has the power to paralyze and silence even strong, determined people, which is why threats of violence are such a potent, common, and toxic presence in political discourse. Consequently, it is a wonder, and a gift to us all, when engaged citizens like Jonathan Huston refuse to be silenced.

more at ... http://www.salon.com/2015/01/03/why_activists_and_feminists_get_so_many_death_threats_partner/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

I've had my roller-coaster rides with the threats over time ... I often wonder if social media vitriol will ever ebb, but I'm not very hopeful. A seemingly "safe" forum can be vicious to activists, feminists, leftists ... I'm not sure if its just confidence gained from being anonymous or if those people would really act on their threats and/or if these are "true" feelings ... is their hate that deep or are they just anonymously cocky?