To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Elbert Hubbard
I did stumble across an interesting commentary about a female moderator (Ana Kasparian) on YouTube. Never seen the show she co-hosts, but in this YouTube video, “Do hot girls have all the advantages?”, Thunderf00t discusses whether being beautiful is an advantage or disadvantage in getting your message across:
I think he has a point (no, not only that she is strikingly beautiful). But she draws attention, which makes her actions very salient — and can distract. Personally, I think beyond the initial reaction it is likely that it amplifies what she is saying and doing, e.g., positive actions are likely be rated more positively, but negative likely draw more criticism. But for the initial reaction, yup, could be.
In her reply, she agrees with Thunderf00t …
… esp. regarding the point that as a beautiful young woman, she starts out with her credibility questioned, while other people would have to make mistakes for that to happen. An uphill battle. On the other hand, that is also a way to learn.
BTW, talking about criticism, I also agree that she has the right strategy for dealing with abusive comments — to ignore them (most of the time). Why spend time worrying about idiots who criticize everything and seek attention? You can see her short video where she addresses the issue below:
And, yup, if you write or do something publicly, it will draw criticism. That’s natural. You put your neck out, you are doing something that others cannot do. Some people, trolls and the like, are drawn to that — independently of the person’s gender, topic talked about, popularity, etc. pp. And you need thick(er) skin to deal with it.
BTW, there’s also an interesting video by Thunderf00t about the subject of having a think skin — or rather what happens if the skin is too thin:
But yup, criticism — sometimes even really abusive criticism — is just something that happens to everyone who is creative, who is public, who does something he or she likes.
And it’s possible to deal with the negative reactions.
