ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a combination of anecdotal and empirical data to demonstrate the nature, pervasiveness, and consequences of contemporary gendered cyberhate. It provides details on various manifestations of gendered cyberhate, including revenge porn, doxing, sextortion, cyberstalking, and rape video blackmail. The discursive victim-blaming and perpetrator-exculpation around gendered cyberhate is both prevalent and insidious in that it tends to circulate – unquestioned – as 'common sense'. A commutation test in the form of an account of a carjacking was provided to encourage a critical reappraisal of dominant ideas about responsibility and blame online, as well as to reveal some of the deeply embedded assumptions and double standards underlining commonsensical views. The chapter shows that – like the carjacking target – large numbers of women are being attacked via the internet and on social media platforms simply for doing their jobs or while going about their everyday lives.
