With great power comes great responsibility. Was it irresponsible of Elon Musk to challenge the media? No. It was far worse.
Female journalists who cover Elon Musk have the same personal rule: Mention his name on Twitter at your peril.
That’s because there is an army—mostly young, mostly white, almost entirely men—that marches behind him. These MuskBros, as we call them, make it their mission to descend on women who criticize Musk, and tear them to pieces. I know, because it has happened to me. More than once.
Erin Biba is a victim of these MuskBros, Not because they are fans of Musk, but because she’s female.
When female journalists like me dare to question the SpaceX and Tesla founder, there’s a predictable result: We get called bitches, idiots, and worse.
This presents a bit of a circular problem, as Biba’s “dare to question” came in response to Musk’s “dare to question.” There is certainly a valid discussion about whether words like “bitch” are appropriate. It’s clearly not politically correct, but that is primary to a certain mindset inclined to elevate that concern over the substantive concern. “And worse,” which is very suggestive but uninformative.
Calling someone an “idiot,” on the other hand, requires far greater effort to dismiss as sexist. Some will argue that men call women “idiots” as a time-honored means of dismissing their views. This may be true, but fails to address the problem of people who are, in fact, idiots and also happen to be female. It shouldn’t be used as sexist dismissal, but it similarly shouldn’t be used as a sexist defense. Unless, of course, one is of the view that women cannot, by definition, be idiots.
Biba’s complaint about the MuskBros, itself a weapon of sexist dismissal by adding Bros to the backend of a word to circumvent substance, was derived of her frustration.
Last week I took to Twitter, frustrated over Musk’s attacks on the press and his tweet at molecular biologist Upulie Divisekera, in which he called her nanoscience “bs.” I was concerned that Musk doesn’t realize the broader impact of his lashing out. With every criticism lobbed at a journalist, (or a scientist), Musk reinforces the growing public mistrust of essential institutions seeded by the Donald Trump wing of the GOP.
The first link in there is not to Musk’s “attacks on the press,” but to a tertiary criticism of a website to which he referred. Is Musk not allowed to challenge the media? Is he so powerful, and the media so impotent, that it’s punching down? Was his twit about nanoscience a sexist assault? Do Trump’s cries of “fake news” mean, to frustrated pundits like Biba, that the mainstream media is immune from challenge when their news falls short of accuracy or neutrality?
There may be a worthy discussion of the merits of nanoscience, or media accuracy in reporting, even of the influence someone like Musk wields when taking punches. But this was subsumed by the nature of the response which avoided all substantive issues with one deft move.
So what’s my goal in writing this, knowing full well the barrage of hate it’s going to bring down on me? First, I believe that abuse and harassment like this should not be allowed to live in the shadows of @ replies and hide in the quiet of private DMs and emails. If you’re going to call someone a cunt for doing their job, then you can go ahead and do that in front of the world.
Second, I believe that it’s important for everyone to know, understand, and see that being a woman and a journalist means that it has literally become part of our job to field these kinds of messages on a regular basis. And I’m white (though being a Jew isn’t helping me avoid online hate speech, let’s be honest)—I can’t even imagine what it must be like for journalists of color or LGBTQ+ reporters.
Was this about Musk’s criticism of science or media, or Biba’s victimhood as a female journalist on the receiving end of Musk’s supporters? Is there any challenge where someone wearing the mantle of marginalization can be involved that doesn’t swiftly devolve into being about them, their victimhood, because others won’t adhere to their language and argumentation rules? Does this make it Elon Musk’s fault, such that he’s no longer entitled to express his views because it “silences” women who disagree with him?
Having recently had occasion to question some assertions by young female lawyers, I learned that my substantive challenge to what I considered misguided views wasn’t about their views at all, but sexism. The knee-jerk reaction was to ignore the substance and impute sexism. Not all lawyers react this way, but enough it makes discussion difficult and questioning dangerous “advice” impossible.
It’s one thing when the subject at hand doesn’t implicate harm to others, but when lawyers are involved, bad ideas from a women can be just as dangerous as bad ideas from a man. Are women immune from criticism? Are they subject to criticism, provided it only comes in their approved manner? Do we ignore the harm done for the sake of their feelings? At what point do putatively intelligent people start dealing with the substance and stop playing the victim?
And are there LawBros?
- Tuesday Talk rules apply.
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“The knee-jerk reaction was to ignore the substance and impute sexism.”
The hammer of sexism-labeling isn’t the only tool in their kit, but it lies on top and is the easiest to wield because it requires no thinking to respond to criticism. Just pick it up and bash away.
Oh sure, exactly what I would expect a man to say.
https://youtu.be/bSfqNEvykv0
I wonder if Donald Trump receives more or fewer insulting Tweets than Erin Biba, and if he gets as upset about them?
This would be a brilliant comment if intended ironically. Otherwise, it’s the very idiocy at hand. I’m sure you meant it ironically, right?
“Having recently had occasion to question some assertions by young female lawyers, I learned that my substantive challenge to what I considered misguided views wasn’t about their views at all, but sexism.”
Details, or it didn’t happen.
You don’t trust me? Seriously?
Fuck Musk and any cult of personality or celebrity worship. If he didn’t actively cultivate his precious image, it’d be another thing all together, but it’s apparently nice to drum up a mob who agrees with everything you say. This fifty-year-old billionaire that I have nothing in common with had his wage slaves design and make FLAMETHROWERS!!!! So cool and unique. Flamethrowers are dangerous, but it wouldn’t be a shame if he burned too.
It would be nice to see Biba back her shit up and confront Musk with his own stupid words, but instead she focuses on the same thing her detractors do. She’s a woman. Good for her, but it’s still not as bad as our Host makes it out to seem. She makes her point well enough. Challenge Musk and get flamed, and the internet allows morons to say nasty things without repercussions. This isn’t indicative of a wave of progressive feminist overreach, just banality.
Is a guy like Musk at fault for people admiring him? I mean, not that Tesla, SpaceX or being a tech mogul suggest anything positive about him, but it’s not like he pays people to give him “likes.” Or does he?
Musk plays to his crowd of sycophants and propagates his image, so yes he is at fault for his admirers who want him to lead them into the shiny and chrome future. He’s as bad as Trump and the rest of their class.
Musk is not anyone’s savior, just another fat pig gobbling up what he can before the slaughter. He’s not a technologist or engineer or scientist or philosopher. He’s a capitalist and a marketer who should be treated as such.
[Whispers: I’m a capitalist too. Where did you think your trust fund came from?]
We’re petty capitalists, Pa. Until you and I can sit back and let the rents pay completely for our miserable existences, we haven’t graduated fully yet. It’s vulgar to work for a living, even for yourself, after all. Worse yet would be to ask for donations. Can you imagine the horror?
I demean myself with filthy lucre so you’ll never have to. You’re welcome.
“Flamethrowers are dangerous.”
You do know that it wasn’t a flamethrower at all but just a modified propane torch, right? Generally used for killing weeds. And available at your nearest Home Depot. Or do you need a summer internship in the District of Nebraska?
Have you seen what the Muskrats tweet? I wouldn’t even trust them with a fucking bic. Besides, I just wanted a way to connect Musk’s bad acts to the image of him burning. I wasn’t trying to be exact with my snark, and he and his company called the damn things “flamethrowers” first.
You could learn a thing or two from Muskrats. Shimmy, PK.
Always wondered what kind of cargo the Captain was hauling when they did that one.
This fifty-year-old billionaire that I have nothing in common with had his wage slaves design and make FLAMETHROWERS!!!!
Have you actually seen the images and vids of these?
Not flamethrowers, at best just overgrown blowtorches. Really stupid things. You can get a similar effect with a can of hairspray and a lighter.
Sarcasm, snark, and stupid literary references. All my comments are divided into three parts. I’m mocking the Muskrats who think their dear leader makes it rain every time he pisses.
Just so you know, I will not repost Muskrat Love just because you keep using that word. Stop trying to goad me into it.
I guess this isn’t the place to insert the parents are the school board and Muammar Gaddafi is dead joke,
eh?
Quiver some timbers tonight esteemed one. You have been holding out too long.
Could be some “Helsinki” in it for you. No?
ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCBySkF0kNo
go solo for cogent…..
there is always that road show, though. I guess?
neil diamond is gonna trade for the coins tossed on stage.
btw; he is in
Bartender: You’re cut off.
It is not as though I still ain’t buying….
as you wish!
put some windows in one of these days.
SHG,
According to your stalker, you are a misogynist. Poor Jamie cannot see that there is no difference between harsh criticism of women who speak nonsense and harsh criticism of men who speak nonsense. That failure is truly worrisome for our profession.
All the best.
RGK
The irony is that criticism or praise, given because it’s earned, is equality itself. But then, the twisting of it into misogyny makes in increasingly difficult to treat women lawyers as equals, as they refuse to accept equality and fight back against it.
Donald Trump may have turned it into his own circus sideshow, but he didn’t plant the seeds. Those public institutions did that all on their own.
“Advocacy journalism” long predated Trump.
So, now anyone who criticizes a “journalist” or a “scientist” is deemed to be waving the Trump banner? Even when “journalists” and “scientists” criticize other “journalists” and “scientists”? Because it is like admitting “journalists” and “scientists” don’t know 100% of everything, I guess. I never heard that they were supposed to (I thought that was lawyers and judges).
There’s always room for more on the list.
I can’t decide if “Elon and the MuskBros” sounds more like a great name for a 50’s rock revival band or the name of a sequel to ‘Young Guns’ that got made but was never distributed.
I had Benny and the Jets in mind, if that helps any.