There is a fantastic video on Youtube of Stephanie Roche scoring a class goal in a recent match. If you have the remotest interest in soccer or sport its worth watching.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0L0WIK2Ync
Its been hailed as a classic and as a goal for the seasons by professional players and pundits including top flight international players. See http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/match-of-the-days-gary-hails-stephanies-goal-of-the-season-29678698.html and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/sportvideo/footballvideo/10393036/Today-on-YouTube-Stephanie-Roche-scores-goal-of-the-season-contender-for-Peamount-United.html for just some of the reactions.
However… Look through the comments on YouTube for a less savory experience. We know from the experience of some high profile women that social media comments can range from the mildly sexist to downright disturbed and disturbing. Think of the threats to Mary Beard, or Caroline Criado-Perez as the most high profile recent cases. The ability to comment, anon or pseudonymously seems to give some people a case of foot in keyboard syndrome. They tap into the reptile part of the brain and spew forth in a manner that one hopes (but fears that they might) they would not do to their wives, partners or siblings. Anonymous abuse is one thing ; Iv gotten a fair share of it on IrishEconomy.ie , Politics.ie and Thepropertypin.com, and unless its frankly libelous I let it ride – when it’s layered with a deep vein of misogyny , sexism and downright creepiness then its something else.
The comments, some reproduced below, suggest a bunch of guys with poor social skills threatened by a display of individual skill from a woman. So, they try to take her down. Its shameful. Youtube could and should like all social media platforms be significantly more vigilant. Comment is fine, criticism is great, but in the lack of moderation then people behave immoderately. Its not enough to have a “report for spam” or “thumbs down” button and to crowd-source – thats necessary but not sufficient. And it doesn’t matter if the comments are few – we are much more sensitized to negative than positive interventions.
Nice goal. Now get me a sandwich b*tch.
did someone get lost out of the kitchen again
women……football ahhahahahahahahahahahhaahhahaahahhaha
Bet she cant make a chicken sandwich though :/
im puzzled by this video… where are their aprons, or am i looking at some very feminine looking men? some fill me in please and tell me what the hell is going on here??
dykes
I didnt know Cookie Monster was on the bench
and so on and so forth. To be fair, a lot more comments are positive or if critical are from people suggesting issues with the defense technical issues etc. But the fact remains there is a well of sexism, misogyny or downright hatred of women that comes out on social media at times. Its disturbing..
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