Zerlina Maxwell, Bravely Refusing to Let Haters & Rape Talk Ruin Her Day

@zerlinamaxwell Good. Be strong and take care of yourself. Don’t let the crazies get you down.

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) March 9, 2013

Yesterday I noticed an alarming retweet of a message from a woman named Zerlina Maxwell. She was determinedly reporting on verbal abuse and threatened violence flung at her by some offensive people online, and letting them and everyone else know she’d reported them. Seeing the screenshot of the vile Facebook message from a Jordan Mayer denouncing her and expressing hope she’d be raped, I quickly sent a supportive response to her, one that my tweeps would see, and thereby also learn about the situation. I learned that the invective had been directed at her after an interview with Sean Hannity when she turned around the suggestion that women should arm themselves to be free of worries for their personal safety. Maxwell said, in effect, “No, let men learn not to rape!” Much of the background is given in this TPM story along with video from the interview, including the fact that she is herself a rape survivor. TPM’s article, like my tweet, was meant to heighten awareness of the incident, and shine a bright light on the haters. After I had sent her my supportive message. I looked at some of the messages on her Twitter feed and see that she’s enduring more abuse, but lots of people are also sticking up for her, as she tweets below.

Thank u so much 4 ur support & creating this FB pg for me @sejones101! I really appreciate it. Happy we R finally… fb.me/1RpSUNMEq

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) March 10, 2013