Our summer of misogynist rage: Toxic men unleash a wave of violent threats aimed at outspoken women

[marmar]

Our summer of misogynist rage: Toxic men unleash a wave of violent threats aimed at outspoken women
"Backlash" isn't enough to describe the abuse faced by Cassidy Hutchinson, Amber Heard, and pro-choice protesters

By AMANDA MARCOTTE


(Salon) Shortly after Cassidy Hutchinson finished her searing testimony that correctly painted Donald Trump as a violent but cowardly bully, desperate right-wingers tried to make "Amber Heard 2.0" a thing on Twitter. The choice was a telling one, though not in the way the MAGA heads think. The abuse aimed at the former aide for Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, who spoke before the January 6 committee on Tuesday, does resemble the harassment of movie star Johnny Depp's ex-wife. In both cases, misogynists launched an intimidation campaign to silence a woman. Not, importantly, because she's lying, but because her haters fear she's telling the truth.

The committee kept Hutchinson's plans to testify publicly under wraps until the very morning she was sworn in, and only announced the hearing the day before it happened. There are likely multiple reasons for this, but reports suggest that a major concern was Hutchinson's safety. The implications of that are chilling, of course. Until yesterday, it wasn't widely known in public how much Hutchinson had witnessed and was prepared to speak about. The people who did know what she witnessed would be those close to Trump and who know how he behaves when cameras aren't on him.

Now the whole country has been told about the petulant, violent, and fascistic behavior that Trump's inner circle goes to great pains to conceal. And Trump is reacting with the same strategy he used to sic the mob on the Capitol: Winking at his violent followers, providing them a target for their rage, and trusting that they know what he wants from them. Not that Trump needs to be a rocket scientist to know his biggest fans happen to be the same people who fly into an incandescent rage when a woman speaks out against injustice. The heightened concerns about her safety, compared to the older white men who have largely been witnesses to Trump's behavior, is also a reminder that the Trump base has a particular hatred of a disobedient woman who happens to be young and pretty — another reason they went straight for the Amber Heard comparison.

The entirely predictable campaign of threats and lies aimed at Hutchinson is part of a larger pattern of vicious misogyny that is coming to define the summer of 2022. It's being described as a "backlash" against feminism, but that word feels inadequate to capture the savage fury that is erupting across the country. We're seeing a boiling over of the anger so many men (and even some women) have against women who speak out — or even women who are just trying to live their lives in peace. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/06/29/our-summer-of-misogynist-rage-men-unleash-a-wave-of-violent-aimed-at-outspoken-women/

[Blue Owl]

1. These incels need a swift kick in their shriveled ballsacks

I’m lacing up my steel-toed boots now....

[dixiechiken1]

2. Ms. Marcotte could have better made her point without painting a bed-shitter as the 'abused'...

Amber Heard was as much of an abuser as the misogynistic, desperate right-wingers about whom she writes. I agree with the premise of the article but painting Ms. Heard as an innocent victim is a bit of a stretch.

[whathehell]

4. I frankly dislike the demonizing of Amber Heard alongside

the very predictable deifying of Johnny Star Boy by his adoring fans., ..As she mentioned, most of his witnesses were his Employees and since we have ONLY his word on his " shit the bed" allegation (she denied it) I''d suggest withholding judgement.

[dixiechiken1]

5. I don't deify *anybody*, let alone Johnny Depp.

His case was presented to a jury and he won. Suggest whatever you like but judgement has already been made in pretty much the only place that matters: the court.

[Demsrule86]

9. I know right...Amber Heard is a fraud and an abuser...a jury saw through her lies and

found her guilty. I don't know why people still support her.

[Demsrule86]

10. That simply is untrue...Heard was an actress and a celebrity. She blackmailed him and when he

wouldn't fork over the bucks she filed an RTO...with a fake bruise...proven in court the picture was photoshopped. She got caught lying throughout the trial...and deserved to lose. She is a terrible person.

[Demsrule86]

12. I watched the trial as my husband had two spinal surgeries around when the trial happened...

And it distracted me from the sheer misery of that time...never watched anything like it before. I think Heard should not have been included in the article as there was no evidence that she was abused. This is why she was found guilty of defaming Depp by a jury. Of course in general...no doubt a war on women out there.

[Martin68]

3. While the threats are clearly aimed at women, I believe we are all threatened by these

knuckle-draggers.

[Demsrule86]

8. First of all Amber Heard should not be included. I followed that trial...I was stuck in the House

as hubs had two surgeries...she is a fake used the woman's movement...lied and actually is an abuser...Men can be abused too.

[suprcali]

11. Gaslit by depp

It was puzzling why Amber Heard 2.0 was trending on Twitter after Cassidy Hutchinson testified. Any woman daring to speak out is now considered an Amber. The tweets called her a liar. And of course, primetime fox news couldn't help themselves.

It was alarming to see the daily trends against Heard on social media. Not even Ghislaine Maxwell got that amount of hate and she had a lot of victims. But that's likely why depp wanted it out in public (and in Virginia) so he could use his fame and charm to gaslight the nation. People lined up for hours just to see him. In no way could someone sever a finger without injuring the rest of the hand using a bottle. Yet somehow it magically targeted his lone finger. But that was just one of his lies. Now his good friend marilyn manson will use his playbook to silence Evan Rachel Wood for daring to speak out about his abuse. It's their answer to the "me too" movement.

He won't be the last.