Image: iStock.
For all its wonders and useful services, the internet can be an absolute cesspool.
This is particularly true if you’re a woman who dares to make any kind of online contribution. Countless female journalists, celebrities, Redditors, gamers and social media users have become targets for abusive comments, threats and other forms of harassment — often of a violent or sexually aggressive nature — from men.
This kind of behaviour is horrifying enough, but evidently the misogynists of the online world have found even more revolting ways to insult and humiliate women. According to Mic.com, women are finding themselves the subject of ‘cum tributes’ — where men print out images of a woman, ejaculate on it, and post the evidence online.
One such woman is Complex Magazine editor Lauren Nostro. Shortly after writing an article about the SlutWalk event in Los Angeles, an image of her face that appeared to be covered in semen was shared on Twitter.
“You guys wanna help me report this man who came on a printed out photo of my face? Thank you,” she tweeted.
To their credit, Twitter HQ suspended the original poster’s profile after a request from Nostro — but on other, less regulated online platforms it’s basically impossible to achieve this kind of disciplinary response.
Although some 'cum tributes' are mutually consensual — there are entire forums and sub-Reddits dedicated to this exchange — they're often not. In some cases the photos are drawn from social media without a woman's knowledge or permission; other times, Hollywood celebrities are the subject.
It appears they're also commonly used as a way to humiliate and debase women who are outspoken on topics such as feminism or sex positivity. As Mic reports:
"In these instances, cum tributes aren't "tributes." They're not just a man masturbating to an image of a woman he finds attractive behind a computer screen. They're a brutal and highly public form of sexual debasement, a way to make the subject feel violated, a way to assert dominance over a woman from behind a computer screen."
Top Comments
LMAO! Daffy People.