21.Jan.2011 Penny and the mob

Freelance journalist Laurie Penny is a media presence on the rise. At 24, she can already list a New Statesman column and various television and radio appearances on her CV. She’s also writing a book.

When Penny decided to hire a contract research assistant, blogger Guido Fawkes published a blog post objecting to the advertisement, citing Penny’s payment and recruitment terms as illegal.

The blog post itself was shot through with Guido’s trademark sneering anti-leftist contempt, but was arguably reasonable comment. What took place in the comments section was more unpleasant. While some commenters objected with use of argument, many resorted to sexualised, violent or simply plain misogynistic insults. Here are ten examples, with a screen grab to illustrate each.

1. AngryEnglishJon‘s first reaction was a succinct “Commie bitch“, to which other commenters added jokes about paternal incest and comments on Penny’s sexual desirability:

2. Penny’s popularity on Twitter is then attributed to her being “good in bed“, according to David Davis (This of course is a flippant gag and hardly the most abusive comment in the list. Regardless, it’s a cliché when used about successful young women, so we note it anyway):

3. Righty Right Wing (Mrs) – a commenter who later purports to be female, as though this gives her remarks greater weight – suggests Penny feminises herself and finds a husband:

4. ST complains that Penny does not qualify as the “totty” requested to appear on Guido’s blog:

5. Then it gets darker. Andy B prescribes curative sex for Penny. Two other commenters join in encouragingly:

6. One commenter says he has not heard of Penny. Deep Who explains “She’s one of those plastic lefty lesbo [sic] who actually have pots of cash and love knobs up their flypipe“. Three commenters respond to this description approvingly:

7. Robert Catesby takes the commentary to the next level of rape-as-cure fantasy, with his remark:

8. By this point, some commenters have objected to the tone of the responses. Commenter skunkbuster tries to shut down the argument by implying that it’s standard rough-and-tumble “stick” to which Penny must become accustomed, and that any allegations of “bullying” are an invalid cop-out:

9. Carole, who claims to be a Tory activist, objects openly to the misogyny shown in the comments thread. She is informed by two commenters that the abuse is merely “free speech” and “like life“:

10. Commenters claiming to be female defend the misogyny, which carries the implication that their approval makes it acceptable:

Any high profile political commentator is likely to attract vitriolic opposition from readers, particularly when the abusers are able to shelter beneath the relative anonymity of the comments thread. But if Penny had been a male writer, we wonder how the response might have differed. Your thoughts would be welcomed.