Men rally behind female reporter

Sexism piece earns groundswell of support

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A reporter in Newfoundland and Labrador says the commentary piece she wrote about the harassment female journalists face earned some hate mail, but even more online support — particularly from men.

Tara Bradbury wrote a story in the St. John’s Telegram last week about FemFest, a local feminist conference addressing issues such as infant feeding, domestic violence and indigenous feminism. At the time, Bradbury said she thought the piece was “innocuous,” just a preview of the event including information about scheduled speakers, dates and ticket prices.

After the article was posted online, Bradbury said she started receiving messages from people who found the article highly objectionable.

Many seemed to take issue with the event’s ideology, saying “there is no need for feminism” or it is “destroying the concept of family.”

Twitter users wrote to her asking if one “needed to know witchcraft to attend” or if there would be “workshops on sandwich-making?”

Bradbury followed up the preview piece of FemFest with an opinion piece this week about the resulting abuse. She said she was most disturbed by the personal attacks, such as being called “a biased bitch.”

“I still can’t figure out why I’m biased,” Bradbury said in an interview. “Unless it’s because I’m a woman who wrote that article.”

The anger over a story about a female-centred conference came as no surprise to the FemFest organizers, members of the St. John’s Women’s Council. Director Jenny Wright said she and her organization are harassed about their work daily, receiving online insults, expletives and even death threats.

“There are trolls and harassers and [men’s rights activists] who spend their whole time looking for the hashtag feminism,” Wright said.

Bradbury said the backlash fits into a pattern of harassment she has experienced over her 13-year career at the newspaper.

“These commenters don’t realize how ironic they’re being,” Bradbury says. “They’re proving the point of why we need a [feminist] festival.”

As Bradbury expected, her commentary in the Telegram this week has been met with some criticism, but overall, she says, it has been overshadowed by a groundswell of support.

After the FemFest frenzy, Bradbury says she received supportive e-mails only from other women, but since her opinion piece was published, the gender balance in her inbox has shifted.

“Most of the mail I’ve gotten is from men disgusted by what [people] wrote,” Bradbury said. “Men should be shocked, but sadly, a lot of women won’t be, because they live it.”