While not a new problem, online gender bias remains pernicious and pervasive. Combating it is tricky.
Consider the social media harassment that target's women's bodies. Or online images that overrepresent women as librarians and nurses and underrepresent them as computer programmers or civil engineers. Then there's Wikipedia's gender imbalance: Only 18 percent of its biographies are dedicated to women.
March 8 is International Women's Day, which celebrates "the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women" and encourages gender parity. This year's theme is #ChooseToChallenge, which partly calls on people to stand up to gender bias and inequality. In recognition of the day and the negative environment women and people with other marginalized identities continue to experience online, Mashable spoke with gender equity experts to learn about ways you can challenge the internet's status quo.
As the executive director of the nonprofit The Representation Project, which works to shift societal attitudes about gender through film, education, and activism, Soraya Chemaly is one such expert. She says one of the ways she's experienced gender bias online is when men cite her work to her as if she's not an authority on what she's written.
"How is it still the case that even though I've done this work for decades, or I've written deeply-researched articles or books or been part of expert organizations, there's still this anti-authoritative bias against people like me?" she says. "Their default position is that women can't have expertise or authority."
What's worse is that this kind of degrading online discourse can have a negative effect on more people than the recipient alone.
"I may experience that [gender bias] as a writer or a subject matter expert but when that bias is happening, other women also see it and experience it vicariously," Chemaly says.
That's part of what makes online gender bias so destructive. When it happens IRL, while it can of course be very damaging, on the internet, as in other types of media like TV or movies, large groups of people can witness it and internalize the damaging words or images or even weaponize that learned bias against others.
Intersectionality, the term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in the '80s that describes the way many people have to wade through multiple layers of bias because people can hold more than one oppressed identity, also plays a role online.
The experiences of women of color are one prime example. "Black and brown women's bodies are treated differently than thin white women's bodies," Chemaly says. There are countless examples of social media platforms allowing white women to post what they want and punishing Black and brown women for posting similar content.
For example, in 2020, Instagram removed photos of a Black plus-size model, Nyome Nicholas Williams, holding her breasts, while it's allowed similar photos of slender white women. Instagram deemed these images in violation of its nudity guidelines. Nicholas-Williams and others lobbied Instagram to change its policy, which it did, three months after the initial posting.
Though men can of course be negatively affected by online gender bias as well, as with social media bullying for not conforming to traditional standards of masculinity, Chemaly believes it's particularly detrimental for women.
"The gender bias that we see online is a reflection of the gender bias in the society more broadly that materially privileges men and harms women," she says.
With all of that in mind, read below for ways you can help make the internet a more welcoming space for all.
1. Call in your loved ones
If someone you care about makes a disparaging comment about a woman's body online, it doesn't necessarily mean they're trying to perpetuate gender bias and its larger deleterious effects. If something like this happens, Christian Nunes, the president of the women's rights nonprofit National Organization for Women, suggests sending them a DM or calling them up.
Try to come from a place of concern, rather than blame, she says, and don't automatically assume there was ill intent behind the social media post or comment. This way, your friend or family member knows you want to learn more about why they wrote what they did and are open to a constructive and respectful conversation.
Professor Loretta J. Ross, visiting associate professor of the study of women and gender at Smith College, calls this practice "calling in" as opposed to the "calling out" culture many of us are used to.
“It’s a call out done with love,” Ross told the New York Times.
Nunes says we've gotten into the habit of shaming people online and shaming someone excessively is going to make them shut down.
To avoid that, you can say, for example: "Hey! I saw you wrote X. What did you mean by that comment?," giving your loved one the benefit of the doubt and an opportunity to clear up what they meant.
Afterward, if what they said online affected you negatively, let them know. If the comment didn't impact you personally, explain why it could be an example of gender bias and also why that's harmful and how it hurts you.
By going about the conversation in this gentler way, you avoid attacking the person's character, which won't get you anywhere. You're also clear about why you didn't think the comment was OK and you can suggest how the person can avoid similar behavior in the future, says Nunes.
2. Report abusive comments
Nunes draws the line at comments that incite violence or encourage abuse, no matter who they come from.
If a comment encourages bullying, intimidation, or violence, that's a problem, she says. If a social media comment attacks someone's identity, for instance, and rallies others online to bully that person because of it, that's clearly abusive and should be reported to the platform's moderators.
Listen to yourself, too. When something makes you feel unsafe, that's a sign. If you see something online that triggers these red flags, and you feel safe doing so, report it.
"Leave it up to the screeners and the social media platforms to determine if they feel it meets the criteria or not," says Nunes.
If moderators don't remove the hateful comment you reported or otherwise neglect this duty, consider logging off from social media to recharge.
"We all have our personal methods for self care and, often, taking a break from the content or tools that feed us toxic information goes a long way for our own health and well-being," says Nunes.
3. Pressure social media platforms
Social media platforms, of course, don't have a particularly strong record of responsibly policing abusive content. Many users of the brand new, invitation-only social media app Clubhouse, for example, have already accused it of failing to protect people from abuse on its platform, especially those of historically marginalized backgrounds, according to the New York Times.
Often, public pressure is necessary to get big companies to change their ways, as evidenced in Facebook's belated ban on Holocaust denial on the platform in 2020 after years public outcry.
If a site doesn't remove offending content you report (or is even engaging in gender bias itself as Snapchat's did, with its gender swap filter), you can request it institute an advisory board to ensure the platform follows gender equity standards, suggests Nunes.
"Gender equity advisory boards are one potential mechanism to help social media companies become more equitable. However, such boards must reflect the racial and socioeconomic diversity of the platforms’ usership," she says. "The more people that speak out to put pressure on these platforms, the more likely they are to listen and take action."
It's a long-term goal and while it would likely take a long and sustained effort on the part of activists, Nunes thinks these boards would go a long way to cut down gender bias on social media platforms.
4. A tip for allies
Allies, or those who may not identify as part of a historically oppressed or marginalized group but want to support those who do, are important in the fight for equality. But being an effective ally isn't easy, given the well-meaning mistakes you might make that end up doing more harm than good.
Nunes says allies of women and other marginalized groups who face gender bias online need to be aware of their own tendency toward self-promotion disguised as uplift — and take action to fix it.
If you constantly post photos of yourself in a T-shirt that declares you're a feminist, or tweet about yourself promoting gender equality, rather than share the work and stories of women and LGBTQ people, or actually doing the work, you might care more about proving to your followers you're a feminist than helping further the movement.
Nunes says this behavior can erase the voices of marginalized and oppressed groups.
"If I have someone always speaking for me saying 'Let Black women lead,' but I'm a Black woman and you're not letting me talk, what good does that do for me?" she says.
Instead, Nunes invites you to amplify the voices of individuals fighting for equality.
You can follow the lead of actress and activist Gabrielle Union, for example, who highlights women she finds inspiring on her Women Crush Wednesday series on social media. In her latest WCW post, Union sang the praises of actress Dominique Fishback, who recently appeared in the movie Judas and the Black Messiah.
"Put the focus on those groups and those individuals," says Nunes. "That's how you can share the space."
Support organizations that fight gender bias
You can also help organizations that work to eliminate gender bias in media and online, suggests Chemaly.
Here are some she suggests:
The Representation Project: Core to her organization's work, Chemaly says, is pointing out bias and stereotypes. As part of that, it's created social media activism campaigns that challenge societal limits on women, such as #AskHerMore and #RepresentHer. You can donate here.
Women's Media Center: Founded by actress and activist Jane Fonda, poet and novelist Robin Morgan, and journalist and women's rights activist Gloria Steinem, this nonprofit amplifies the voices and stories of girls and women in the media. You can donate here.
Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media: Founded by actress Geena Davis, the institute works with the entertainment industry to advocate for better gender representation, inclusion, and dismantle gender stereotypes within movies and TV. You can donate here or sign up here to get involved with the organization.
While Chemaly is all in favor of one-on-one conversations to challenge gender bias, she's more focused on working toward systemic change.
"What can we do to create structural change so that the likelihood of bias drops," she says. "Instead of just responding to the bias, how do you prevent the bias?"
Topics Activism Social Good
