Feminist internet laws

{{Internet}}
The [[sexism]] encountered by many [[women]] in [[Internet]] [[culture]] has given rise to several '''feminist [[internet laws]]''' that outline general patterns of behaviour experienced by women online. 

==Godwin's Feminist Corollary ==
[[Godwin's Law]] states that as an internet discussion grows, the probability that someone will compare that poster to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] or the [[Nazi]]s approaches one. 

Godwin's Law is very popular and has inspired many variations, usually about specific groups, such as the '''Feminist Corollary''', which states: 

{{quotebox|As an online discussion about sexism continues, the probability of a woman who speaks out being called a [[feminazi]] approaches 1.}}

==Matthews' Law of Internet Misogyny==
{{main|Misogyny}}
'''Matthews' Law''' is an extension to Godwin's Feminist Corollary that exists due to the thinking of political spokesman, electrical [[engineer]], and forensic scientist Richard Matthews<ref>[https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/richard.matthews Dr Richard Matthews]. University of Adelaide.</ref> after his 2015 article discussing the abject nature of the {{wpl|Lena image}} and its usage in Computer Science.<ref name=matthews>Matthews, Richard. (May 10, 2015). [https://theconversation.com/the-playboy-centrefold-at-the-centre-of-computer-science-41457 The Playboy centrefold at the centre of computer science.] ''The Conversation.'' Retrieved December 28, 2017.</ref> 

{{quotebox|The longer a conversation regarding sexism, misogyny or the persecution of women grows the probability a male will accuse a woman of false rape — that is a woman who accuses a male of [[Rape|raping]] her when the event did not occur — approaches one.}}

While this law is attributed to Dr. Matthews, it is only named because he wrote the above-mentioned article. The case in question originates from the ineffective moderation of the comments on the article feed that caused the law to originate. The origin is based on the comments of two readers (Jena Zelezny and Lydia Isokangas) who debated the existence of a young Maddie Zug being offended by the Lena image being used in her computer science class. While the conversation started off professional and respectful, it was not long before it disintegrated into [[Ad hominem|personal attacks]] and resulted in comments being locked on the article prematurely (well before the 72-hour deadline).<ref name=matthews />

==Moff's Law==
'''Moff's Law''' has a long and a short version, both were made on posts at io9<ref>[http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?]</ref> and identified on Racialicious.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20150403212143/http://www.racialicious.com/2009/12/21/and-we-shall-call-this-moffs-law/ And We Shall Call This Moff's Law]</ref> The long version is:

{{quotebox|Of all the varieties of irritating comment out there, the absolute most annoying has to be “Why can't you just watch the movie for what it is??? Why can’t you just enjoy it? Why do you have to analyze it???”

If you have posted such a comment, or if you are about to post such a comment, here or anywhere else, let me just advise you: Shut up. Shut the fuck up. Shut your goddamn fucking mouth. SHUT. UP.}}

The easiest response to this is "Why even ''have'' movie critics, then?"

The law itself can be phrased — paralleling Godwin's Law — as follows: 

{{quotebox|As comments continue in a feminist <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[social justice]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> discussion of pop culture, the probability of someone saying 'why do you have to analyze it? it's just a movie/cartoon/book/video game!' approaches 1.<ref>[http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Moff%27s_law Moff's law]. Geek Feminism, 2009.</ref>}}

==The Unicorn Law==
The '''Unicorn Law''' states: 

{{quotebox|If you are a woman in [[open source]], you will eventually give a talk about being a woman in open source.<ref name=geekfeminismunicorn>[http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Unicorn_Law Geek Feminism article on the Unicorn Law]</ref>}}

Basically, women in open source programming are still considered unusual enough that they're [[token]]ized, and then asked to talk about being a token minority as if all that matters is their [[gender]]. This applies to pretty much any industry where programming, computing, or other technology is involved.<ref name=geekfeminismunicorn/>

==Lewis' Law==
'''Lewis' Law''' is named after [[journalist]] Helen Lewis, based on a tweet she made in August 2012,  though the notion itself probably predates the 2010s:

{{quotebox|Comments on any article about feminism justify feminism<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20170203153146/https://twitter.com/helenlewis/status/233594800908169217 Helen Lewis on Twitter]</ref>}}

Since apparently some people have problems understanding what she meant, here is a clear explanation in her own words: "As the comment section of any article about feminism grows, the probability of someone saying something utterly vile, stupid and/or ignorant about women – something that justifies the existence of feminism – approaches one." It's an observation about the quality of comments (and by extension, [[Bigotry|the mindsets]] [[Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory|that produce them]]), not some kind of cause-and-effect logical rule.

==Anita's Irony==
'''Anita's Irony''' is an internet law that exists because of the work of [[Anita Sarkeesian]], who spends a lot of time talking about the way women are portrayed in popular [[media]]. It states: 

{{quotebox|Online discussion of sexism or misogyny quickly results in [[Irony|disproportionate displays of sexism and misogyny]].<ref>[http://reagle.org/joseph/pelican/social/internet-rules-and-laws-20.html Internet Rules and Laws 2.0]</ref>}}

This exists because Sarkeesian is a feminist who usually focuses on how women are either not shown as advancing plot on their own, not shown at all, or shown in highly [[Stereotype|stereotypical]] ways. And, unsurprisingly, the responses to her were often [[Anita Sarkeesian#Harassment|incredibly over the top]], including threats of violence.

==Mukherjee’s Law==
Named after [[User:BadPiggies 9|Rohan Mukherjee]], the discoverer of the law, '''Mukherjee’s Law''' states that if you dare to mention feminism ''even once'' or even vaguely admit to being a feminist during a conversation with an antifeminist, said antifeminist will almost instantly forget everything you said prior, ignore whatever you have to say afterwards (even if feminism isn't the main thing that's being discussed), and instead [[Argumentum ad nauseam|go on and on]] about how evil and [[Misandry|misandristic]] feminism supposedly is, and how it possesses the fictional ability to somehow oppress and subjugate [[Male|an entire gender]] by just existing. Rohan was first inspired to derive this law when he was having a conversation with some of his friends, when he mentioned [[Feminism|the 8-letter f-word]] when discussing all the things that [[Conservapedia]] hates, and… well, you get the picture.

==Application outside of feminism==
Most of these laws are written with the focus being on women or feminism, but many of these work just as well with other social justice issues, such as online discussions about [[racism]] quickly result in disproportionate displays of racism, and people of color who are open source programmers will inevitably be asked to give a lecture on being a person of color who is an open source programmer, and comments on any article on [[gay rights]] justify the need for laws to protect gay rights, for example.

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Feminism]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Social justice]]
{{Eponymous laws}}

Categories: Feminism, Internet, Social justice