Silencing refers to techniques used to shut women up when they complain about sexism or other problems. It encompasses harassment or intimidation that discourages women from speaking out, shaming and humiliation targeted at women who do speak up, and techniques used to dismiss or deny the legitimacy of womens' speech.
Silencing tactics are fairly simple. They are methods used to quash dissent. To dismiss or disable the voices of dissent against the privilege[-]induced majority speak. They can include trolling someone, threatening someone, making offensive jokes, using slurs, acting violent or intimidating, demanding or even criticizing anger from a marginalized person, demanding that a marginalized person change their methods for addressing privilege and a host of other things that are design[ed] to control the means of communication and discourse. -- RP, How to be An Ally
Contents
Examples
- Gaslighting - https://www.bustle.com/articles/132207-5-common-phrases-you-may-not-realize-are-gaslighting
- Burning the evidence
- Clawed my way up
- Continuum fallacy
- Damaging my reputation and Witch hunt
- Disillusioning women
- Asking for Free sexism consulting, or, "can you volunteer to fix this?"
- Free speech
- Getting attention
- I asked a woman and she said it wasn't sexist
- I'm a feminist but
- Violations of Moff's law
- Innocent until proven guilty
- Isolated incident
- I've been hurt too
- Male experience trump card
- Men are just like that
- Non-Disparagement clauses in settlement agreements when an employee takes legal action against an employer
- Not an insider
- Ostracism is evil
- Patriarchy hurts men too
- Pregnant person fallacy: the fallacy in which discrimination against pregnant people isn't discrimination against women (and related fallacies for the links between poverty and race, and so on)
- Political correctness
- Rebellion
- This is boring
- Those are the rules
- Women taught us
- Women weren't the intended audience
Challenges
Falsely helpful responses
All of these responses silence complaints of sexism by centering the feelings of the listener, rather than the woman who is complaining of sexism.
- You should be flattered
- Unsolicited advice
- Unsolicited critique aka "I just thought you'd like to know"
- Unsolicited revenge fantasies
- Unsolicited diagnosis
- Nonconsensual lemonade-making
Related to communication techniques
Related to focus of activism
- Feminist arguments are just ploys and Let's focus on the worthwhile parts
- Broader issue
- Many bad things in the world
- No lists
- Move on
- Pick your battles
