ABSTRACT
This chapter considered cyber-trolling as a 'silencing strategy' and a form of gendered 'symbolic violence' enacted against women in online spaces, such as Twitter. It is concerned with instances where trolling crossed the boundary from an exchange of teasing remarks or humour, to sustained abuse by one or more individuals, and which can be viewed as a form of gendered and/or 'symbolic violence'. The chapter focuses on 'gendertrolling' and gendered 'symbolic violence' in the form of rape and death threats, body shaming and female incompetence, the framing of women in online spaces, the advice given to victims of trolling and the responses to it so far. Thus, for women utilizing the public space of the internet, there is a double-edged sword in that it promotes freedom of expression and provides a space for feminist activism, while it also presents the risk of a backlash from potential trolls as a means of curtailing women's appropriation of, and participation in, online spaces.
