Friday, June 22, 2012

Weekend Reading: The Bad and The Good of the Internet Edition

Let's take a break from mommy wars and whether or not women can "have it all" and talk about the crap that flows our way via the internet, shall we?
A reader sent me this excellent post about the incredibly misogynistic response to a woman's Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a look at how women are portrayed in videogames. And yes, there is a happy-ish ending- she gets lots of money. But really, the abuse she had to put up with is disgusting.

Which reminded me of that awesome video about trolls that was all over the place recently. If you somehow missed it, here it is:




Of course, the internet isn't just good for being vile to women. It also lets you steal stuff! Here is a really thoughtful response to that. And yeah, I know. Music companies and musicians need to find new business models. But that doesn't mean you should steal from them. If you don't like their current business model, the ethical response, in my opinion, is to just do without their product.

Ah, but the internet is not all bad. It gave us Dancing Matt. Here's his latest video:



His videos always make me smile, and then wish I could go traveling. I love the whole thing, but especially the ending.

But, you know, if you do want to read more about whether or not we can have it all, here are some good posts on the topic:
Add links to your favorite reactions to the Slaughter piece in the comments. Or post your favorite things that suck and rule about the internet. Or just enjoy the links and have a nice weekend!

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Anonymous4:50 AM

    The hater video was hilarious!

    And then the dancing matt video had tears streaming down my face starting with oakland.

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    1. Yeah, I always tear up watching his videos. If you haven't seen his earlier ones, they are pretty cool, too.

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    2. Anonymous3:29 PM

      not only is the hater video hilarious, the tune has been stuck in my head *all day*

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  3. I had my first hater comment this week on my blog, so that first video is timely!

    The second video is just heart warming - after a week of "interesting" things on the internet, I needed that.

    Thanks!

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    1. Sorry to hear you had a hater on your blog! They suck, no two ways about it.

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  4. And let us not omit the misogyny inherent in education "reform".
    http://rethinkingschools.org/archive/26_04/edit264.shtml

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  5. Your first link reminded me of this:
    http://sexandthe405.com/trolling-the-clueless-guy-who-should-have-stuck-with-youporn/

    It's the comment-thread where the victim strikes back at the troll...

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  6. Thanks for the shout out! (And I, too, loved the haters music video.)

    I think the @Mama Bee piece you linked to really nailed it.

    Here are some other reactions to Slaughter I liked:

    Rebecca Traister's piece at Salon exploring how the "have it all" cliche improperly condemns feminism (Thanks @nicoleandmaggie):
    http://www.salon.com/2012/06/21/can_modern_women_have_it_all/singleton/

    Catherine Johnson's piece at kitchen table math looking at what might be going on structurally within education vis-a-via Slaughter's 14-year-old son's "school problems" (Thanks @AmyP):
    http://kitchentablemath.blogspot.com/2012/06/in-leafy-suburbs.html

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