FEMINISM

How to Respond Appropriately to Misogyny Trolls and Their Crumb Maidens

With savage humour and snark if that’s your thing

Sarah J. Baker
8 min readSep 10, 2022

--

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Giovanni Andrea

Trolls. Hungry little lumpish creatures in constant need of attention.

Don’t feed them they say, they’ll just keep coming back for more.

Ignore them, and they’ll just go away.

Like a lady, with dignity and grace was the opinion of one particularly nasty Maiden of the Crumb who took it upon herself to launch an attack on me for applying the ‘expose the fuckers’ approach (one of the few ways women actually can stand up against the gendered abuse from men online).

Sigh.

Existing as a woman on this planet (whether on tangible terra firma or the ether of cyberspace) is an exhausting battlefield of constantly pre-empting the reactions of men.

Say no politely and he’ll think you're being coy.

Say no firmly and he could turn on you with the humiliated fury of the rejected male.

Your facial expressions during such exchanges must be just so. Smile and you’re telling him you’re open to his advance. Don’t and you’re a mystery just waiting (and wanting) to be solved.

--

--

Sarah J. Baker

Navel Gazer | Feminist | Urban Agriculturalist | Queen of Snark | Sweating the little things | FB @ SarahJBakersTeacup