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NewsThe Secret Internet of TERFs: A Rebuttal from Ovarit
Link to Wiki version (may be easier to read on mobile)
If Ovarit was a secret, we’re doing an awfully bad job keeping it under wraps. As of December 7, four months after launching the beta site, we’ve given invite codes to over 2,500 registered users. On an average day in early December we hosted over 7,000 unique visitors, almost 100 new posts and 1,200 comments. And thanks to The Atlantic’s recent article, The Secret Internet of TERFs, we’ve been inundated with new requests to join, experienced a significant bump in site traffic (our user base increased 10% over the past week), and conversations about Ovarit are circulating here and on other social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LipstickAlley, Mumsnet, and Saidit.
We launched Ovarit with a handful of familiar circles - some of the banned subreddits such as r/GenderCritical, r/TERFisaslur, r/ActualWomen and r/ThisNeverHappens - and a few new ones such as o/WomensLiberation, o/WomensHistory and o/FeministEvents! In the four months since our launch, we’ve added circles to reflect our member’s interests and willingness to help grow their communities, such as: o/STEM, o/Fitness, o/FeministBooks, o/Games, and o/ArtsAndYarns, all growing in subscribers and content. o/SaveWomensSports, created December 8th, already has over 400 subscribers.
And all of the circles, posts, comments, and gut-shakingly, spit-out-your-tea funny memes are publicly visible, with or without an invite code. It’s no secret. You can check it out and read what we’re saying for yourself.
We wanted to respond to The Atlantic article to share our side of the story. Fortunately, we’ve been down this road before with media misrepresentation and knew to keep receipts of our discussions with the reporters. We encourage you to read the article, our rebuttal (below), the original interviews, and check out our site to learn more about what women are really saying on Ovarit.
We take issue with The Atlantic’s decision to publish this article as is, considering its frequent use of manipulation and rhetorical fallacy in an attempt to smear us as similar to the alt-right; the poorly chosen embedded links which did not uphold the argument of this piece; the complete and utter lack of evidence that we are a hate group or engage in hate speech on Ovarit or any other site; and the lack of representation of the Ovarit administrators, which gave readers a false impression that the site is run by someone who worked on the software before the site launched.
This is intellectually dishonest, biased reporting that any common person could see through with a quick glance at our site. We resent that in 2020, the centennial year after women gained the right to vote in the United States, our voices, experiences, and liberties are still so poorly represented in civic society.
Media misrepresentation of radical feminist women?
Part I - What Makes a Hate Group?
Part II - How Stories are Told - Media Manipulation