This American Life on Trolls

This American Life from WBEZTrigger warning for rape, rape jokes, trolls, rape joking trolls, and general asshattery.

The most recent episode of This American Life, a Chicago Public Radio program, has blown my mind so much, I think my brain is six sizes larger for having listened to it.

Episode 545. If you don’t have anything nice to say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS is worth listening to, I think, though again, trigger warnings like whoa.

First, writer Lindy West confronts and interviews her worst troll, which, given the samples of hate mail she read at the beginning of the segment, is really saying something. This troll set up a Twitter account posing as her late father and harassed her from it, and she wrote about the aftermath of that experience, and how much it hurt. That led to his apologizing, and then to the This American Life interview, which I listened to in a state of teary anticipation of what would come next.

Then they discuss “vocal fry,” which is a vocal affectation common among young people but attributed to young women even though men do it, too. And they come right out and say it’s a way of policing young women who speak. It’s glorious. My brain, I say to you again, is six sizes too big right now.

This episode was like a warm blanket for the shivering cold left in my brain from having read Anita Sarkeesian’s posting of a week’s worth of hate she received between 1/20/15 and 1/26/15 (Dear God Almighty Trigger Warning and So Not Safe for Work or Humanity), and having seen the commentary following the guilty verdict of two former Vanderbilt football players convicted of multiple counts of rape.

If you have an hour, I recommend this episode, and would like to know what you think of it.

ETA: the third act is about osprey nest cams, and the internet reaction when a mother osprey attacks her nestlings, so yet again, trigger warning of a slightly different kind.

 

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  1. laj says:

    Ooh man…..Anita Sarkeesian is my hero….that women is so courageous! I want to take a shower after reading all that ignorant hate mail. UGH…

    I love This American Life and listen to it every weekend, but I missed this segment on the way home from work….thanks for the heads up!

  2. laj says:

    I meant to write “I missed this segment and will listen to it on my way home from work”.

  3. Tara Green says:

    Hi Sarah, I listened to this today on my morning walk.
    I’d have to say that I’m not sure what the motivation for Lindy West was to speak with the troll, especially when she began to cry. I do not believe she should have sought understanding or even comfort from this internet abuser. It was hard to listen to and my heart went out to her. This leads me to think of internet communication in general, and how even those you communicate with online can cross the lines of respect and common courtesy.

    ~Tara

  4. I love Lindy West. I was so sad when she left Jezebel. I can’t wait to listen to this when I get home.

  5. Coco says:

    What struck me most about this whole program is how much more compassion and empathy we can muster for a wild animal behaving as such than for our fellow humans. How much more humanity we demand for them.

    I’ve been witness to trolling but never a victim. I don’t condone it in any form.

    I do get how this man, in particular, and likely many others, could see this as an acceptable outlet to vent frustration. I understand how the anonymity of the internet could make it seem harmless.

    It isn’t. We know that. But I can see how it happens. How seemingly normal, sane people might think this is a better idea than venting at wives, mothers, coworkers, or even just the woman who cut them off in traffic that morning.

    I find my own intolerance of women who troll to be out of proportion to my, heavy sigh and an eye-roll, disdain of men who troll. Perhaps I simply expect better of my own sex.

    In the end, for me, I’m glad I can avoid it and feel terrible for those who are subjected to it and can’t.

  6. I also heard this and I am sooo glad to see you post about it because I had MANY feelings, and look! Here’s a place to put them now! (Caveat: I only listened to the first story–the one by Lindy West.)

    1. I was initially kind of annoyed by this story. Because, holy cow, what a self-aware troll! This is all fine and good, I thought, an amazing story and all that, but really it’s a one-in-a-million. We all KNOW that trolls troll because of deficiencies in their own lives, but you’ll never get 99.9999 per cent of trolls to see it that way, so what’s the point? This story doesn’t change anything. It’s an idealized outcome.

    2. But then I thought about how people say the same things about romance novels: they’re unrealistic, they’re about escapism, they set people up for disappointment in real life. And I NEVER stand for that argument. (I have a whole rant on the “escapism” charge. That one in particular frosts my ass.) So how much of a hypocrite am I to slag this HEA troll story for being unrealistic?

    3. Then I thought, dang, someone should write a romance novel about a feminist and her troll. Now that is some serious conflict. It would take a better writer than I to redeem said troll, but I would read the hell out of that book.

    I wish I had a nice tidy way to wrap up these unconnected thoughts, but alas, I do not.

  7. Coco says:

    @Jenny Holiday

    I had every one of these thoughts while listening to that segment. Every one.

  8. garlicknitter says:

    I read the transcript for the first part, but listened to the second part because I wanted to hear what they meant by “vocal fry,” and yeah, I noticed pretty quickly that Mr. Glass does that himself and apparently no one minds, so, yeah, policing women speaking. You know what really frosts me about that? I wouldn’t be surprised if some young women had started frying as a way to avoid upspeaking, which is what they were chastised for previously.

  9. Kazen says:

    Thank you so much for pointing out this episode Sarah – I can’t wait to listen!

    For those who are interested in how women’s speech is perceived I highly recommend the NPR video Talking While Female. It features women who work at NPR and what they’ve been told about their voices, as well as some science as to why that may be.

  10. Kazen says:

    …and I can’t wait to listen to TAL about “policing young women who speak”, as the NPR piece wiffs on that.

  11. Lindsay says:

    I don’t get to listen to TAL religiously anymore, due to my insane schedule, so thanks for pointing out this piece. It was well worth my time, as an author, a reader and a mother.

  12. This makes me curious whether you get trolls on this site, Sarah. I am a pretty regular reader of posts, but I admit that unless it’s a HaBO post I’m interested in, I don’t really read comments. But I could see how maybe a bunch of women talking amongst themselves with the sassy tone that is characteristic of this site might invite them. Or maybe romance doesn’t cross trolls’ minds as a topic to concern their trolly selves with. Just curious…

  13. SB Sarah says:

    @GarlicKnitter:

    I bet you’re on to something there, that vocal fry is next in line after upspeaking on the list of ways to embarrass women about their voices.

  14. SB Sarah says:

    @Jenny:

    Every now and again, yes, but my theory matches yours: that romances are very much a women’s territory, so we attract much troll attention. What I love about the SBTB community is that it is very supportive and active, so if someone posts something that’s not typical or somewhat aggressive, usually two or three people have addressed it by the time I cross the room to my computer! I’m also really protective of the comment space because it is so often safe and supportive for those who want to discuss difficult topics (as romance tends to address them, too) so I try to keep the comment tenor and perspective as welcoming as possible.

  15. Coco says:

    As a very new member of The Bitchery, seriously, I missed ten years!, I’ve been reading more on this site than in books for two weeks trying to catch up on all the goodness I’ve missed. I noted almost immediately that the tone of the comments is always upbeat and helpful. What snark there is, is reserved for the books or authors but even that is generally tossed out with a wink and a nudge.

    The writers don’t shy away from important topics but, perhaps purely because they’re all so right minded?, they remain informative and professional without bowing to the middle and yet there aren’t riots. When “dissent” is called for (because there must be dissent or you’re just not trying hard enough,) the readers are hard-pressed to come up with much more than the obnoxious pink that bothers their sensibilities.

    When there have been factual errors in articles or other mistakes, the writers have edited and then everyone moves on. It’s never a war between supporters and non-supporters as if rallying behind a cause. There’s no politics or hounding.

    Even when grammar or spelling is corrected (rare so far) it’s either by the person themselves or, when it’s not, it isn’t an attack on the person, the person’s education, or the person’s parentage.

    Issues are dealt with swiftly. Questions are answered right now. I’ve had the thought more than once that these people ought to be in charge of more things! I have a feeling that if the people here, both writers and readers, were given healthcare reform or the national debt to correct, they’d have it sorted in a day, everyone would be pleased, and lets get back to the important stuff – books.

    I find this site, and this community, refreshing and stimulating in a way I haven’t found anywhere else. It’s a great mix. Usually if a place is very nice it’s also boring and if it’s very smart it’s also competitive. I actually find myself holding back my own snark here, as mine can be cutting at times, and it just isn’t necessary but I don’t feel stifled at all.

    I know I sound a bit like I drank the kool-aid but the thing is, here, in this community, it’s ok to be nice, it’s ok to be smart, and it’s ok to be a woman and none of that counts against you.

    There is such a good vibe here.

    I hope the haters and trolls stay away.

    And long may she reign!

  16. Lulu says:

    I listened earlier this week, and was prompted to write the producers of TAL and tell them that their female reporters sound awesome, to this over-50 female.

    Sigh. Seriously, who takes the time to write in and bitch about a reporter’s voice? I love the easy style. So much better than the drama of network reporting…

    Also I pointed out that no one slams Gabriel Macht (Harvey Specter on Suits) for his weird lispy/too-much-saliva thing that he does when he talks. Of course, he wears a penis. And he is damn cute.

  17. […] This American Life focuses on internet trolls. […]

  18. Velvet Tea says:

    I googled ‘Vocal Fry’ as I hadn’t heard of it before and it just brought up a whole page of articles on ‘vocal trends to avoid’. No real explanations just that it is apparently an embarrassment that will ensure you fail job interviews. Also included in the lists up-talking, speed talking and whisper-talking. Exactly how are women supposed to be talking according to them? Ugh.

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