My thought for the day?
Women should stop hating on each other.
Whether it is the truly sad comments that some women attempt to leave on this blog, or the comments they leave on other blog sites, it doesn’t matter if it is an ordinary working mom like me or a famous female celebrity, women need to stop and think about what our online negativity to each other is teaching our children. And really, what do we hope to gain from it?
Any time I hear about kids bullying other kids online, I think of the parents. Not the “Why don’t they know their child is bullying another child and stop it”, but rather, “I know where the child gets it from.” The Mom is probably in the next room leaving a hate comment somewhere online herself.
I watched the hoopla of Kim Kardashian’s divorce play out in the media last week. All of the comments trashed her. Not one comment mentioned her soon-to-be ex-husband. Isn’t he part of the equation? Or you see a politician trash a woman in the public eye, but rarely do you see the tables turned. Even comments about what women wear, how fat they are or how slutty they are, rarely is pervasive if talking about men.
It extends beyond the internet. Even in the blogging community, which is primarily female, very few women bloggers mentor or help another female blogger – unless they get paid by check or credit card. Granted, it is just from my perspective, but many forums mention it. If the blogging community treats it self as a legitimate career, then like other careers, you take the time to help each other out from time to time.
All in all, I think we should start with kids and find out what our respective communities (schools, towns/cities, state) are doing to combat online bullying, but we should also let our officials know that it needs to extend beyond just children. All of us who spend time online should not be subject to extreme hate either. Those policies should protect everyone, not just those under the age of 18. Then again, we have to start somewhere. However, an even better start is with ourselves. Leave a nice comment on someone’s blog today, just because. Or if you are a hater, perhaps, for once, shut the computer off and walk away.
……………………………………………………………………..
Image Credt: Flickr Creative Commons-Sylvar
Related articles
- Cyberbullying (education.com)
- Misogyny in the Blogosphere (atheistrev.com)
- Attempts to shut women up should fail (guardian.co.uk)
Well said! Spreading hate and pain is not my thing. If Moms expect their kids not to bully, then they need to stop bullying as well. I don’t just see it online, I see it in person all the time.
I think this is a great post. And to take it a step further, I think the root of the problem for some women is that we need to stop hating.. ourselves. So many of the women who are negative or bullies don’t really like or respect their own self. Course some people are just plain mean. Thank you for actually talking about this. Some of what I have seen is what has kept me very reluctant from getting over involved in blogging and caused me to back out of some groups. We need to be nicer to each other.
Totally agree Charlene!!!