To Mr. White:

I suppose this is meant to be a threat: “I will no longer read, nor point to, your blog.” It’s not even close to the most threatening threat I’ve received as a woman with opinions on the Internet. But it’s a threat all the same.

I have no idea who you are – although thanks to your writing this message to me with your actual name and email address, it’s fairly easy to find you online and see what you do. I see you are a “Cisco Certified Architect” so I suppose that means you believe you help shape the architecture of the Internet. Packet switching. Data centers. Routing. Who gets to receive what information. (That's not horrifying at all when one considers the future of information online.)

So maybe it’s partly your fault that the Internet is such a toxic cesspool of white male supremacy, a place where Mr. Whites like yourself feel entitled to email strangers and tell them that their political views are “sad.”

Honestly, I’m not sure why I’m should care that you will no longer read my work. I don’t keep track of how many people visit my website. I don’t keep track of how many people share my writing. You don’t seem like an intellectual colleague or fellow scholar – someone whose criticism I need to consider in order to improve my own analysis. Indeed, from your total mischaracterization of my writing and my politics, you do not seem to be a particularly “good” or skilled or diligent reader.

So perhaps it’s best you stay away from Hack Education. It seems to upset you, and lord knows things turn sour when Mr. Whites get upset.

I do, however, find it fascinating that you would take the time to type almost 200 words to a total stranger. I’ve never written a letter of this sort to someone simply because I felt the need to yell at them “I am not your fan!” I can’t quite fathom what would make me do such a thing, even though there are plenty of artists and writers and companies that piss me off and in turn I’ve opted to avoid. I figure they don’t give a shit if I pay attention or not. Just as I do not give a shit about your attention. It's such a meager and sad bit of attention, Mr. White, one desperate enough to email a stranger begging for more of it.

Mr. White, I recommend you avoid all those ideas and websites and women that you find so upsetting. And you really needn’t take the time to type any of us an angry letter, notifying us of your refusal to click. Nobody cares about your clicks, Mr. White. Least of all women. Least of all me. Maybe stay away from the Internet altogether, Mr. White. It's a scary and unruly place.

Oh shit. That Cisco Certified Architect angle. Well, good luck with writing more Internet standards, asshole. You built it, you broke it, and I'll likely continue to write things on it that will hurt your feelings and will make you want to destroy the Internet even further. 'Til the bitter end...

Yours in struggle,

~Audrey, The Management of Hack Education