Online, we have been exposed to multiple different types of content, but we often don’t consider how they affect the psyches of others. Usually, it’s a scroll, and then you forget about it. Reddit, unlike other platforms, does not have the luxury.
Reddit has received a reputation for being a pit of toxicity and bigotry. Homophobia, racism, and ableism are all present on the app. But misogyny is especially tolerated and often encouraged on its subreddits.
You don’t have to look too far to see it rear its ugly head. This is visible even in the most tame subreddits. This level of misogyny on Reddit is often seen more in the comments, where someone asks a question or makes a post about something mildly annoying a woman does, and the comments are flooded with misogynistic comments.
If you explore the other subreddits in more detail, you’ll find entire communities of people promoting misogyny and the abuse of women and girls. Make no mistake, these aren’t just a few fringe communities with little backing. They often reach over 100,000 followers.
“r/Womenareinferiorcap” is a notorious one for posting pornographic material of women, along with degrading statements about women. The media on the subreddit has been reported to show cases of rape or child sexual abuse material. This has over 100,000 followers.
Female celebrities can’t escape this either. Communities dedicated to well-known celebrities like Emma Watson aren’t made by genuine fans of hers, but it’s predominantly men who make deepfake nudes of her. If famous women aren’t spared from this, it shows how far the depths of hatred for women can go.
There’s also a large influx of subreddits that endorse pedophilia and abuse against children, mainly little girls. These communities are dedicated to fantasizing about assaulting children and traumatizing them. Titles such as “r/barelylegal” and “r/teens” are prime examples of the normalization of pedophilia on Reddit; both subreddits have around 50,000 followers.
An infamous former subreddit was called “r/jailbait”. The sub was practically a network for pedophiles to share child sexual abuse material. An admin for Reddit was found to be a frequent member of this forum and briefly co-ran it until it was shut down.
When I asked a student about the fetishization of youth online, she had this to say, “People don’t see us as children anymore.” She also expanded on why she thinks that a lot of people are hypocritical when it comes to their hatred of pedophilia. “Teen girls are still children, stuff like this should be met with outrage and disgust but its just seen as another porn category.”
The fetishization of lesbian women is another interest Reddit has. The “r/d*keconversion”, or “r/d*kebreaking” forums are both communities that are dedicated to the idea of raping lesbians to “make them straight.” Both have avoided being shut down due to using the excuse of it being a “kink”, and these, too, both have around 50,000 followers.
Women who were formerly in porn have subreddits meant to preserve the videos they don’t want online anymore. Lana Rhodes is a woman in her 30s who used to be in pornographic content thats still online despite her asking multiple times to have her content removed online. Many sites and communities of Reddit have refused and continue to post her old content she wants to distance herself from
“It gives men the idea that they can do what they want to women without consequences.” A female student told me, she also believes that it can influence womens behaviours as well. “When women are also exposed to this, it makes us think that men should be treating us like that, they shouldn’t.”
Women’s privacy and autonomy are not respected on Reddit. On the app, women aren’t respected; this is not only the norm, but it’s also widely encouraged. When multiple communities are still up and running on there, what does it say about the general attitudes of Reddit as a whole?