Mary Beard says internet misogyny can put women off appearing in public

Mary Beard made the comments after being targeted by online 'trolls' following Question Time appearance

TV Presenter and Cambridge don Mary Beard has said 'vile' online misogyny could put women off appearing in public after she was the victim of 'trolling' following an appearance on BBC 2's Question Time.

Writing for her blog in the Times Literary Supplement, Professor Beard said she had 'seen a side of internet trolling that I haven't experienced before'.

She added she had received a flood of posts which discussed 'my pubic hair (do I brush the floor with it), whether I need rogering (that comment was taken down, as was the speculation about the capaciousness of my vagina, and the plan to plant a ---- in my mouth)''

A large number of the posts were accompanied by a picture of her posted over female genitalia.

She said the 'misogyny here is truly gobsmacking… It would be quite enough to put many women off appearing in public, contributing to political debate, especially as all of this comes up on Google.'

Adding the comments are 'meant to hurt and wound', she said they showed the 'classic signs of vile playground bullying'.

In order to combat the misogynistic comments she said offending sites should be flooded with positive comments and Latin poetry instead.

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