Not so long ago, ‘how to’ manuals aimed at women – that How To Be A Woman Online emulates in its title – consisted of handy tips on how to get stains out of your husband’s work tie, or the tastiest way to cook his bacon after he’d kindly brought it home for you. Those days may be gone, but the underlying desire to keep women in their place and deny them an autonomous voice has followed them out of the kitchen and into the modern, digitalised world. Furious at the constant trolling, harassment and security breaches she and her female peers have been subjected to, internationally-renown journalist Nina Jankowicz has decided to fight back.
Unwilling to see yet another woman forced offline by – predominantly male-instigated – abuse, she has created How To Be A Woman Online. A succinct, eye-opening and infinitely useful guide to safely navigating the internet, the book offers clear, easy-to-follow advice on everything from how to shore up your online security to the best way to report unacceptable behaviour to the leading social media platforms.
The section which breaks down the different sorts of trolls you are likely to encounter, the warning signs that will help you recognise them and the tried and tested ways of responding to them is a particular highlight, employing the winning mix of humour and anger that will be so familiar to any woman who has come up against a @AntiFeministFrank or @ProfessorActually when daring to give their opinion on anything, at any time.
How To Be A Woman Online, Nina Jankowicz (Bloomsbury)
Price: £9.89. Info: here
words RACHEL REES