"In this guide, a foreign affairs analyst discusses online abuse — 'the norm for many women engaged in public discourse' — and the ways women can protect themselves." - New York Times
"A call to action for women who have experienced online abuse… the author’s forthright, sometimes blisteringly witty tone makes for smart company… A successful codification of practical, occasionally fiery methods of protection and means of attack." - Kirkus
“A concise, functional handbook for women looking to combat online abuse… Jankowicz's advice is strategic, focused, and eminently usable, and her assertion that women need to be there to help one another while also fighting for change feels simultaneously supportive and motivational. This is an essential guide for women interested in standing up for a fairer, safer online world.” —Publisher's Weekly
“A timely guide with a much-needed feminist lens.” —Booklist
“Jankowicz manages to achieve a masterful literary stroke, forcing the reader to confront… very real and very uncomfortable questions. She provides readers with a mirror in which they can gaze and reflect on society today and the death or dearth (or both) of decency. It is nearly impossible in reading to not stop and ask yourself why such a book needs to be written in the first place-not its practicality or utility, but that in this day and age these behaviors are tolerated at all online (or in the real world).” —Diplomatic Courier
“A much-needed exploration of the horrific abuse she experienced and other women regularly receive in online and virtual spaces... The lines between disinformation, extremism, and online abuse are far from clear and, hopefully [the] book will spark conversation about behavior online, civility, transparency, and accountability.” —Diplomatic Courier, Books to Watch in 2022
"Solidly researched, informative, grounded, gritty, practical; as is Jankowicz and the women she knows and champions." - Kate Clanchy, UnHerd
"Uses a combination of academic research, interviews and Jankowicz’s own experience to outline a step-by-step plan for handling an inevitable part of being a woman, particularly a woman with another marginalized identity, online: harassment and abuse." - Katelyn Fossett, POLITICO's Women Rule
"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." - Buzz Magazine
"A relevant and useful book." - Irish Tech News
"Timely, informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking, How to Be A Woman Online must be considered basic and essential reading for female researchers, jourbanalists and all other women having a profile in the online and social media space. Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, How to Be A Woman Online is and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Women's Issues & Media/Internet Political Issues collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, jourbanalists, media professionals, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject." - Midwest Book Review
“As any woman who has ever had the temerity to voice an opinion on the internet knows, it is a toxic stew of misogyny, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence... In How to Be A Woman Online, Nina Jankowicz has built an essential toolkit which empowers us all to fight back and protect ourselves. We need a better internet, and this book is an important step in getting us there.” —Alyssa Milano, Actor, Activist, and Author of 'Sorry Not Sorry'
“Nina Jankowicz's important work highlights the growing problem of abuse directed towards women online. The internet did not invent misogyny, but by amplifying aggressive speech directed at women, it is normalising it amongst the haters and making the experience of the victims worse. When social media is central to work life, as well as leisure time, women who are victims of online abuse find it almost impossible to protect themselves from it, but they shouldn't have to confront this alone. Nina Jankowicz once more highlights the consequences of the failure of major social media platforms to address the proliferation of abuse against women online.” —Damian Collins, MP
“With precision and clarity, Nina Jankowicz has created an essential guide to survival for any woman who has the audacity to exist online... This book is an important primer not just for existing online as a woman, but it's a guide to thriving in those spaces, to feeling safe enough to take up room and to have opinions and to be bold in our careers and our lives. This book is part practical guide and part primer in letting you know you are not alone, that your voice and your opinions and your work are worth protecting and that yes, the internet belongs to you too. This book is an instant classic and a necessary read... This is the book I wish I had as a young writer and it's a book I'm so glad to have now.” —Lyz Lenz, author of 'Belabored' (2020) and 'God Land' (2021)
2022-04-18
A call to action for women who have experienced online abuse.
An expert on disinformation and democratization, Jankowicz is currently a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Kennan Institute studying the intersection of freedom and technology in Eastern Europe. She shares details of online mistreatment—ranging from critiques of appearance to threats of physical violence—that she and other women engaged in social discourse endure. “Watching these attacks be ignored as ‘the cost of doing business’ in an age where an online presence is all-but-required is enraging,” she writes. Jankowicz acknowledges that while her approach is not foolproof, she “can teach you the practical strategies….They will not insulate you from abuse—to some degree, the abuse is a signal you’re doing something right—but they’ll keep you safer.” Comprised of five chapters—with titles such as “Community: Cultivating a Circle of Solidarity” and “Tenacity: Speaking Up and Fighting Back”—the body of the work is roughly 80 pages, including a blank page at the end of each chapter. In many ways, this feels more like a long-form blog post than a book, and the text contains too much repetition. In the first chapter, for instance, Jankowicz uses the term password managermore than 15 times: “Use a password manager,” “Set up password manager,” and, later, on the same page, “Use password manager.” While her advice is inarguably sensible, she offers little information beyond what is already freely available. “Amplify other women,” she suggests. Several recommendations require connections and/or resources that some readers may not have—e.g., “Get a therapist”; “Often the best way to get action on content that is clearly violating a platform’s terms of service is to get it in front of a human as quickly as possible.” Still, the author’s forthright, sometimes blisteringly witty tone makes for smart company.
A successful codification of practical, occasionally fiery methods of protection and means of attack.
