Great piece. I hate that this awful and unacceptable behaviour happens to so many women - I am reasonably new to social media having resisted joining it for a long time. I have to say, for the most part it has been positive - I am a voracious reader and I have found some amazing authors on Twitter, a lot of whom I interact with on a regular basis. It's not difficult to show respect to people - I wish so many could do an awful lot better.
As an author, my wife gets hit on maybe 2 to 3 times a week. Some are blatant, like "Hi beautiful", Some sneaky, "Love your book", which gets a thank you and then "Hi beautiful" follows. There is always the debate about blocking creeps, the fear of them retaliating with a one star review or some other bs is always there. The more she is well known the more of these pop out of the swamp.
For me, as a male, I will get a follow and a "hello, how are you?". If I respond then get, "Hey for $50 dollars, I'll send you my nudes." So I block.
Fortunately, the majority of responses for both of us are good, legit, and encouraging. It is sad the creeps are there, and I wish I could eliminate them all, but I guess the answer is not to give them any attention or energy.
I still randomly (but consistently) receive dick pics from a Butthurt Male Author I tangled with 10+ years ago when I was editing for the MFA lit mag. I guess every time he gets a new rejection he blanket-targets every female-presenting editor who has EVER rejected him. Shit's WILD.
I felt this deeply!
Great piece. I hate that this awful and unacceptable behaviour happens to so many women - I am reasonably new to social media having resisted joining it for a long time. I have to say, for the most part it has been positive - I am a voracious reader and I have found some amazing authors on Twitter, a lot of whom I interact with on a regular basis. It's not difficult to show respect to people - I wish so many could do an awful lot better.
As an author, my wife gets hit on maybe 2 to 3 times a week. Some are blatant, like "Hi beautiful", Some sneaky, "Love your book", which gets a thank you and then "Hi beautiful" follows. There is always the debate about blocking creeps, the fear of them retaliating with a one star review or some other bs is always there. The more she is well known the more of these pop out of the swamp.
For me, as a male, I will get a follow and a "hello, how are you?". If I respond then get, "Hey for $50 dollars, I'll send you my nudes." So I block.
Fortunately, the majority of responses for both of us are good, legit, and encouraging. It is sad the creeps are there, and I wish I could eliminate them all, but I guess the answer is not to give them any attention or energy.
I still randomly (but consistently) receive dick pics from a Butthurt Male Author I tangled with 10+ years ago when I was editing for the MFA lit mag. I guess every time he gets a new rejection he blanket-targets every female-presenting editor who has EVER rejected him. Shit's WILD.
Damn, I’m so sorry!! Disgusting behavior.
Right? I was shocked to discover how bad it was myself. Thank you for your kind words 🖤