820

If you’re anything like my parents, you probably wouldn’t even understand most of the content that floods my social media, no matter how hard I try to avoid it.

Here’s a recent example from Instagram: “Do y’all females ever tell ur homegirls ‘Sis chill you letting too many dudes hit?’” Essentially, that means: “Women – do you ever tell your girlfriends that they’re whores and need to stop letting so many guys fuck them?” The reel, posted by a 19-year-old man, appeared on my Instagram feed without me wanting to see it, or ever interacting with any other similar content. The comments that followed were pure misogyny. “Women see body count as a leaderboard and they try to outdo each other,” was one of them. Translation: all women are competitively promiscuous.

Consider the use of the word “female” in these posts. It is not a neutral term here, it is a term of abuse. It’s used by teenage boys to degrade us and equate us to animals. Boys are never described as “males”, but girls are always “females” – the equivalent of sows or calves, creatures that are less than human. We’re also “thots” (whores), “community pussy” and “bops”. “Bop” stands for “been over passed” and is a derogatory term used by boys to refer to a girl they’ve decided has been “passed around” or had too much sex. Sexual equality has ceased to exist online. It’s absolutely fine for boys to have sex, but when girls do, they are called worthless and referred to as objects. “When community pussy tries to insult me, I just want to beat that bitch up.” That’s a message I saw on TikTok.

I’m a 15-year-old schoolgirl and like most teenagers I spend a fair portion of my spare time on social media, often scrolling through short-form videos on apps such as Instagram or TikTok. All of my friends use those apps, and many spend multiple hours a day on them. I actively try to avoid online misogyny, but I am met with it incessantly whenever I open my mainstream social media apps. It only takes a few minutes before there’s subtle or overt misogyny, such as comment sections on a girl’s post filled with remarks about her body, videos made by men or boys captioned with a degrading joke, and even topics such as domestic violence or rape, trivialised and laughed about.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] Freefall@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

Shit is infuriating.

[-] xcaliber47@europe.pub 2 points 6 hours ago

Report & Block. Those are options 29yr old guy here When Andrew Tate started blowing up i blocked or reported every single account that was sharing his stuff Its kind of easy. Also maybe dont use Insta. Use only youtube and then update the settings so you are not getting recomended anythging. Only what u r subscribed to Thats what i do. It is called "dont store any of my data type full privacy settings in youtube"

[-] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 10 points 18 hours ago

This isn't social media, it's social acid, dissolving and corroding everything.

[-] resume7512@lemmy.world 14 points 22 hours ago

Imagine if TikTok automatically tagged all content with #misogyny, #racism, #sexism and so on. And then published monthly reports on society trends. Like "In Feb 2026 racism went down 12%, misogyny went up 5%". I think it would be incredibly insightful and helpful.

While article tries to promote social media ban for under 16s, I strongly believe its just a way to sweep the problem under the rug. I think much more reasonable approach is to recognize those trends and deal with them through education and better parenting.

[-] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago

Let me guess the solution before reading the article - some form of weakening to digital privacy.

Yep: "A social media ban for under-16s might prevent young boys seeing endless content that treats women with contempt and hate. Boys at this age are very susceptible to the cool and funny framing of what is, in reality, relentless misogyny. A ban might not fix the problem, but it would help. If society can’t stop it, it can show it disapproves."

Essentially, this article is an argument to introduce online ID, and I disagree with that on a fundamental level.

The soil misogyny has dug it's roots into is the iniquity we created while seeking equity. It was done for the best of reasons, but now we see the price. That's not a problem we can solve easily, and certainly not via creating state spying infrastructure.

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago

We have mostly 50-80 year old Republicans pushing to strip women of rights and somehow misogyny is all the internets fault? This is a deep societal problem that can't be fixed by internet law.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Virtvirt588@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Word it like that, the guardian has some pretty authoritarian leaning shit.

The main pieces of the article don't read like fabricated and are possibly genuine; however, the last part about the ban might be an deliberate attempt to manipulate the reader using emotional baggage after reading the main section. It may aswell be injected there by the Guardian, and its probable the author didn't even think about the bans.

This yet again is ageism in a nutshell. The Guardian has completely invalidated the authors claims, just because they are a minor. This is where humanity is going: misogyny, ageism, and deliberate injection of stories with malicious intent.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

If anyone uses the word "female" to refer to women/girls, they instantly disqualify themselves from any right to be taken serious. Those people need a psychotherapist.

[-] teuniac_@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

I think it depends a bit on how multicultural an environment is. In a lot of places (including here), for plenty of people English isn't their first language. I have seen 'Female' used on bathroom signs several times. The focus should be on intention, not language.

[-] bold_omi@lemmy.today 14 points 1 day ago

I would note that this is not necessarily true. When referring to sex rather than gender, it is common—and when used in the context "male or female," etc. It's not an evil word—some people just misuse it. It is similar to "it" which is not a bad word in any way, but if you call someone "it" they will likely be offended.

Use of the word female does not indicate misogyny. Deliberate objectification of women through such a consistent word choice is different.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Tarkcanis@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I was gonna say unpopular opinion, but maybe not...

disengage from social media. It is not reality. not only that, but it perpetuates itself, and the oligarchy that created it. Go out and meet people in the real world. This is comming from an autistic person with minimal patients for other people. Seriously, ditch social media; it's poison, and when it dies (which it will if people like you leave) these toxic peope you encounter will have to face the real world.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago

If you’re anything like my parents, you probably wouldn’t even understand most of the content that floods my social media

Aren't her parents like 35 or 40? She thinks people who are 40 don't understand social media? LMAO

[-] stardreamer@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago

They don't. Undeniably the social media landscape has changed, especially for younger folks. It's no longer people spamming chatrooms, starting flamewars, or calling random names in a CoD/PlayOnline lobby. Things are more targeted now. You can easily look up information (especially someone who is ill prepared to protect it) and make much more personal attacks. The old mudslinging used to slide right off since it was just generic provocative comments. Besides, the worst thing that could happen is you have to change your irc nick. But what happens when your school Gmail gets leaked, that is also what you use to sign in to various services?

[-] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The boxxy 4chan civil war happened before this girl was even born, there was doxxing, calls to her house, I don't recall if even swatting.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] TronBronson@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Idk sounds like internet bullying to me. It’s not new. It’s not evolved. It requires the same basic knowledge and precautions.. it involves vigilant parents and an involved school system. We didn’t solve bullying we embraced it. It’s not different, it’s all encompassing now.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] KeenFlame@feddit.nu 15 points 1 day ago

It baffles me to whine about the disgusting shit on short form video pop app for kids and then say this is what I use for Social media. How about not doing that? did you try to not do that? perhaps your problem is the doing of that and the Solution is to not do that?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] peacefulpixel@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

i suppose it shouldn't be surprising but these comments sure are proving the articles point. i guess blaming the people being oppressed is a lot easier than blaming or even actually acknowledging the systemic oppression when you're a brickheaded fascist, especially when you're unaffected by/benefiting from it

[-] Poteau_Poutre@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

I fell the problem is also how social media platforms promote ragebait content. If you are enraged by a post, you will tend to react more, thus spending more time on the platform. I am not saying misoginy and racisme does not exist, but i experience it way more often on social media than IRL. Leaving social media won't cure these shitty behaviours, but it will help her feel less endangered

[-] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 76 points 1 day ago

Delete TikTok and Instagram for starters.

[-] KaChilde@sh.itjust.works 41 points 1 day ago

This is simple advice for an adult who isn’t mired in the drama of high school. For most teens, these apps are how they socialise, how they share information and learn what is cool or uncool. Deleting the apps means you have cut yourself off from the social system and have made yourself a social pariah.

An equivalent for the millennials and gen Xers would be not having Facebook as a teen. It meant not being invited to parties because Facebook was the only platform people used to plan events. No one was going to seek you out individually because it was assumed you were on Facebook and would see the updates.

I agree that social media is harming all of us, but telling teens to just not use it ignores what it was like to be a teenager.

load more comments (9 replies)
[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 41 points 1 day ago

Sexual equality has ceased to exist online. It’s absolutely fine for boys to have sex, but when girls do, they are called worthless and referred to as objects.

This isn't new. I'm a man in my mid 40s and the disparity between how promiscuous men are viewed as compared to promiscuous women has existed for as long as I've been sexually aware, and well before.

Obviously that doesn't make it okay. I also have no idea what the solution might be. There have been a few cultural efforts to normalize the idea of women enjoying and seeking out sex but none of them seem to really reach the people that need to hear it.

I do find it oddly paradoxical that men who make it very clear that they are actively seeking sexual partners would disparage women for being sexually active.

[-] Soggy@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

I do find it oddly paradoxical that men who make it very clear that they are actively seeking sexual partners would disparage women for being sexually active.

They don't want experienced, knowledgable, self-confident partners. They want naive young women they can gaslight and abuse.

load more comments (9 replies)
[-] OpenStars@piefed.social 246 points 2 days ago

Don't use Instagram or TikTok ✅👍

Enragebait is a well known consequence of using a profit-driven Algorithm, i.e. enshittification.

15-year-olds are not being specifically targeted so much as caught up in the phenomena occuring overall.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 114 points 2 days ago

The thing is this isn't a phenomena that's recent. This type of shitty misogynism has been going on for decades/centuries. The only difference between then and now is that we have social apps that make it easier to spread.

I'm coming up on 70 yrs old and misogynism has always been the bane of my existence.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (56 replies)
[-] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 122 points 2 days ago

The age verification debate misses the real point. These commercial algorithms are harmful for everybody.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone 105 points 2 days ago

holy shit these comments

lemmy users stop being individualist-brained, victim-blaming misogynists challenge: IMPOSSIBLE

you don’t stop misogyny by just ignoring it you twats, and hot take, mainstream social media being filled with nothing but privileged assholes being bigots (because all the good people were told to just go somewhere else 😇) is not good, actually!

load more comments (55 replies)
[-] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

As a father of two girls this makes me sad. However, I am a little bid sad to see so many, treading social media as this is the real life view to a lot of young people. Of cause there is plenty of people that gets sucked in, and their view of the world becomes whatever algorithm they follow online. But to most people this is just "shock effect content" not something they would ever follow. I certainly hope, that in your school, most people actually have a since of human left, and are still nice to eachother. As nice as teenagers can be ofc. That the people who actually has this kind of view of other people (especially girls) are the ones who get left out. What I am trying to say is, that I hope young people today leaves all the shit online, ONLINE, and gathers around the good friends IRL. Those are what matters most. Turn off social media ffs. It is meant to fucking poisen your brains. I did. And it feels phenominal. What real value does the swiping really give you, if all it does, is showing how bad you should feel, by being born a Woman? What do you and your friends use social media for today?

When I was teenager, we used social media to socialize online back in the day. Stayed in contact after school hours. Thats all it did for us. Today, I feel like it's sole purpose has become intertainment/pure distraction rather than connectivity to real human beings. It's all about scrolling and leaving bred crums to the big tech, that can be used to fill your "feed" with even more crap to keep your distracted every waking hour. It is the dog chasing it's tail, and what you see won't stop there.please tell me if I am wrong. But this is how I've seen social media develope over the past 2 decades of my life. It went from being the cool place, like a social place to interact with the people you like/love to a swipehell with no valuable interactions what so ever.

[-] super_user_do@feddit.it 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I just don't believe all of this is real anymore. It's a fucking psyop! Men and women have different kinds of comments under posts. If a woman looks at the comments of Reel where a woman promotes the most depraved, objectifying a degrading things to do to guys with the sole purpose of making them suffer, they will only see comments of other women (rightfully) blasting OP in the comments. But when a guy opens the same comment section he will 99% see only comments of women encouraging other women to be the most evil things humanly possible.

It is not a conspiracy, it's a really effective way to farm engagement for basically free. We are letting them take control over society with the most obvious divide-et-impera tactics ever applied in human history

[-] utopiah@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

a fucking psyop ... It is not a conspiracy, it’s a really effective way to farm engagement for basically free.

Right, I think there is very few people actively trying to rage bait others. Sure there are some trolls but the problem at scale is rather blind metrics. There are instead very number smart people, PhDs in machine learning, economics, etc who are brilliant at tweaking mechanisms in order to make a number, e.g. engagement, keep on going up. They might take a benign example, e.g a cooking recipe, and split the audience between more critical vs more positive. They noticed that indeed when they do so, when they artificially create affinity groups, people do reply/like/etc more. They then generalize that technique to other features (e.g. gender, age, etc), run it again at scale, show their project manager that indeed engagement increases and they get a promotion. They have literally no idea of the damage they make, they might in fact actively do their best to ignore the negative side effect.

Number goes up, users get depressed, profit is what matters in this inhumane medium.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 117 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Using social media has ruined my self-esteem and my relation to being a girl in this world, and nearly every day I feel hatred towards my gender, my appearance, or even teenage boys as a category. The misogyny I see from boys my age online, which is echoed in real life too, has made me grow resentful and bitter towards them, as much as I try to avoid it. As wrong as it is, I persistently find myself considering if there are truly any boys out there who are not misogynistic to some extent, and have even questioned whether I can find love in the future because of this. I understand that boys are victims of harmful content, as well as perpetrators of online misogyny – they’re growing up learning how to do this from the adults who post misogynistic videos first. But even so, I feel such a strong divide now between girls and boys in my generation, especially when the way they talk about us in real life mirrors the way they do on the internet.

That’s fucked up.

That level of misogyny is definitely learned, but it’s not just her age group. I’m floored by (for example) some comments my Dad makes, a “quiet, respectful, classy” type guy who’s never had a Facebook or Insta, who’d you’d never expect to hear insults from. And it’s definitely worse after he watches Fox News… that shit is like a drug.

My school “friends” dropped my jaw, sometimes. They got a lot from their parents, but social media (Faceboook back then) absolutely made it worse.

Even here on Lemmy, the disrespect or casual sexism from commenters sometimes makes me want to throw up. Not that I’m a particularly standup guy or anything, but the longer I live, the more I wonder “the fuck happened to my sex?” I certainly can’t critique this girl for wondering the same thing.

load more comments (21 replies)
[-] BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 35 points 1 day ago

I'm a whole cisgendered 30 year old male who games a bit too much, so I try to discourage misogynistic comments when they're made by people in games.

I think there's another layer to the misogyny where any form of "defending" women is seen as white-knighting or simping. You don't even have to be directly referring to comments about a specific person, but you'll still be labeled as a loser who likes women, for some reason.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
820 points (93.7% liked)

World News

54165 readers
2052 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS