THE RAPE IN CYBERSPACE: THE REAL AND VIRTUAL MISOGYNY AND RACISM

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on the support of racist and misogynistic behaviors in the discourses
published in cyberspace, once perceived as a place of protection and refuge to its users. These,
shielded by distance and anonymity, seem to exercise a childlike and inconsequential freedom in
their actions, fruit of the anxieties and disbeliefs that outline contemporary behavior. Through the
exploratory documentary method, this investigation refers to the treatment of comments published on
the Internet around a report about a mediatized case of the collective rape of a young woman from a
community in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which occurred in 2016. As a benchmark, it also uses speech
analysis to report on the episode that took place during the 2018 World Cup, where a young russian
girl was exposed to the world through a video published on supporter social networks. Brazilians who,
through sexist jokes, mocked their gender by taking advantage of their lack of knowledge of the
portuguese language. In order to draw a common line between the two episodes: carnal rape and
verbal rape, both mediatized, we try to situate, through authors who treat the contemporary moment,
how the power relations of human beings in cyberspace are understood and as prejudice of color and
gender settle on this limitless stage. It is concluded that the press and public positions are influenced
by the idealized condition of the victims: a poor black young woman from a Rio de Janeiro’s
community as opposed to a white, blonde and smiling young woman from a distant country. The
involuntary confrontation between these two women exposes the racism and misogyny hidden in the
still socially accepted discourse that seeks to perpetuate the power relations sustained in capitalist
and white chauvinism.