When the author is a woman or person of color, who is either speaking out about lived experiences that we don’t share, or shining some light on the ways in which they are not aligned with the whiteness that is not only comfortable and familiar to us, but also affords us protection, we are quick to work up an incredible amount of naked hostility.
There’s this pervasive, unspoken, attitude that women of color owe us media that we can relate to, media that coddles us, with a gaze that’s kind to our lived experiences instead of their own. And if it doesn’t, it’s somehow acceptable to speak out, loudly; to discredit or tear into them, like we’re hoping for some show of submission or apology because something about what they’ve said has struck a nerve on a level we don’t want to consider.
We take it upon ourselves to rake them over the coals over tone, credibility, and identity, especially if they aren’t speaking in a way or voicing an opinion that we deem appropriate. And we don’t just do it by posting a comment and calling it a day.
Instead, a lot of the time we work together, maybe without realizing it. We support other women in tearing down the author, as well, so it turns into a joint effort. Sit with that for a sec. White women getting together in the comment section of an article to tear down another woman, not because she wrote something actively harmful, but because we don’t like where she’s coming from. We don’t like what she’s saying or the way she’s saying it. We don’t like that she’s not working to please the part of her readership that’s white.
