MANILA, Philippines – Over 50% of misogynistic posts on Twitter in the US and UK are written by women, a new study reported.

The study, “Masculinity and misogyny in the digital age,” was released by anti-bullying group Ditch the Label on Wednesday, October 18, with social media monitoring agency Brandwatch Analytics taking part in the analysis. 

The study looked at nearly 19 million English-language tweets from the US and UK over 4 years – from August 2012 to July 2016.

The findings pointed to women using misogynistic language more often. The report said females were slightly more engaged than males across both constructive (53% to 47%) and pejorative conversation (52 % to 48%).

The context of the language “may also reflect a normalizing of misogynistic language and that authors (including female authors) no longer consciously consider the terms offensive.”

A negatively implied self-worth, or references to self-derision and promiscuity or the body, as well as a lack of equivalent male or masculine terms, points to the language remaining misogynistic.

Views on masculinity

Aside from looking at misogyny, the study also looked at the construct of masculinity, as well as how people react when the “norm” of masculinity is not shown online.

The study saw general reactions to people who did not conform to the usual construct were supportive, pointing to Twitter as a potentially safer place for diversity expression.

Said the study, “People on Twitter were 6 times as likely to respond positively than negatively to their connections when they posted content that didn’t conform.”

The study concluded that not only must people challenge “how men view and treat women, but also how women view and treat one another.” – Rappler.com