Tabula Rasa —
July 19, 2010
This is just a brief note to let you all know that over the weekend my Facebook account was deleted because I was reverse trolling a group called “It isn’t r.a.p.e…. It’s SURPRISE SEX. (:“
I took screen caps of my comments and these are the ones that warranted my banishment.
So, just to clarify Facebook’s position: groups that trivialize sexual assault with “rape jokes” are covered as free speech, while insulting that group is not.
Am I the only one that finds this genuinely disturbing?
I signed the petition already. Facebook has a lot to answer for, but I just don’t see it happening. You brought their hypocrisy up to them, and when they didn’t respond in a responsible manner, you took it public via articles on HuffPo and Jezebel. So the first chance they had to oust you, whether it was hypocritical or not, they took it. This is their warning to people: “We have our policies and we will enforce them as we see fit. Don’t like it – too bad. Protest all you want, but don’t make trouble for the groups that should be banned and we refuse to ban because if you do, we’ll ban you instead. We’re GOD and we can do whatever the hell we please, it’s our site and your opinion doesn’t matter to us as long as people keep subscribing and those advertising dollars keep rolling in.” They may not have said it in so many words, but basically, that’s exactly what they’re saying.
Can you set up an account under another name? A nom de plume, so to speak?
Thanks vesta44.
And yes, I have: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100001368289513
I’m not done protesting this crap. Not by a long shot.
Peace,
Shannon
Oh dear. I wondered where you went.
Okay, so, read the backstory, and now I’m feeling a little ambivalent.
Was telling the folks in the “Rape is funny!!!!” group that you hoped they met a “brutal, dehumanizing end” really necessary?
I’m not saying you deserved to be banned, and I’m certainly not saying that rape apologists don’t, but really?
There’s reverse trolling, and then there’s descending to their level.
I cannot tell you how infuriated I am by these people. Was it necessary? Not exactly, but I cannot express the contempt I feel for the people who keep saying “Light up, it’s just a joke.” It infuriates me that this group goes unchallenged by Facebook. It infuriates me that there are people who think this is funny. It infuriates me that people even have to report this group at all because “free speech” trumps basic human decency. I was in a rage when I posted those comments and I didn’t think there was anything I could say that could possibly be any worse than the attitudes promoted on that group.
I think Facebook was well within their rights to ban me for what I said, but I believe they are also VERY WELL within their rights to ban that group. Their inaction speaks volumes.
Peace,
Shannon
Believe me, I share your contempt, even if I don’t always agree with how you express it.
I do find that my reverse trolling engine tends to overheat. With fat-haters, my compensatory strategy is to adopt a facade of over-the-top faux friendliness (“Awww…you must be so lonely…I just wanna give you a big fat hug!”)
Somehow, I can’t quite see using the same strategy against rape apologists. :-/
Simone,
I completely understand. My goal, though, was to aim low. I wanted to reflect their contempt back on themselves. It’s not a tactic I use lightly. This is a very special group that deserves some very special contempt. This has demonstrated two things of value (in my opinion): 1) for being unrepentant assholes, these people have incredibly thin skin and 2) Facebook takes complaints about hateful behavior more seriously when it’s directed at random assholes than when it is directed at women specifically. How many people have to complain that rape jokes are hurtful, hateful and malicious before Facebook takes us seriously?
Peace,
Shannon
Simone – That’s one of the reasons I don’t reverse troll – I would end up sinking to their level and I would like to think I’m better than that. I think maybe a better tactic would be to personalize it for those who think rape jokes are funny – take that rape joke and put their mother/sister/daughter/any female relative in the place of the woman in the rape joke and see how funny they find it then. And do it with every rape joke they tell – Joshua Holt’s sister, Dan Webb’s mother, just to name 2 of the men from that site who think rape jokes are just so hilarious…………………..
On FB I simply cannot bring myself to “like” the group in order to comment on it, as much as I would like to say some words to the people there.
I can’t stand the idea of people seeing me “like” that.
That’s a real issue, especially since pages are, I think, still globally visible. (Damn you facebook!)
Of course, one option is to create a fake, sock-puppet profile…
I don’t belong to many facebook groups and I used to be active in Facebook for awhile, but I’ve been away and I now only visit a couple times a week. I think that group should be banned immediately if not sooner. Rape is never funny!
I loathe the entire concept of “it’s just a joke” — a joke is something that is funny, and I fail to see how anyone on earth can think hurting someone (as in physical pain) can ever be funny.
I do wonder how funny they would find jokes about accidental castration to be.