Gendertrolling

Gendertrolling is online mysogynist persecution, consisting of group-based, gender-based harassment through cruel, aggressive language and plausible threats over long periods of time. It is often initiated against women who have spoken out publicly about sexism.

Gendertrolling often consists of rape and death threats, in addition to slurs and sex-based intimidation.

Trolls engage in this behavior to gain "lulz," which Whitney Phillips defines as "an aggressive form of laughter derived from eliciting strong emotional reactions form the chosen target(s). In order to amass the greatest number of lulz possible, trolls engage in the most outrageous and ofensive behaviors possible." Phillips also explains that "the majority of trolls on the English-speaking web... are white, male, and somewhat privileged."

Women are targeted as victims of harassment on the internet: while feminine usernames receive an average of 100 sexual or threatening messages per day, masculine usernames incur only 3.7.