4 ms·

Now that I've had a chance to read more, I see that casual misogyny in the tech world is definitely not new. So far, I've seen a half dozen messages, and multip

Now that I've had a chance to read more, I see that casual misogyny in the tech world is definitely not new. So far, I've seen a half dozen messages, and multiple people, calling someone named "Susan Thunder" a whore, bitch, etc. Example: Message number 7168 is 4 lines from John Billings To SUSAN THUNDER at 14:30:49 on 12-Mar-81. Subject: YOUR LAST MESSAE YOU LEFT ONE THING OUT OF YOUR DESCRIPTION OF YOURSELF, WHETHER YOU CHARGE BY THE HOUR OR THE EVENING? And, I have seen no polite messages directed toward anyone with a female sounding name. Given that 90+% of the messages are from people with male-sounding names, and every message, so far, that I've seen directed to a woman has been overtly hateful, it puts some things in perspective about why there are so few women in our industry today. I can't say that, as a 12 year old, I was treated with respect by the BBS community at large, but at least I wasn't on the receiving end of veiled rape threats. I'm hoping I stumbled on the few really hostile messages in the bunch. But, I've bounced around a bit...I fear further study will only be further disheartening.

bobcostas55 12y ago
If you read just 2 posts above the one you quoted, you'll see that "Susan" got someone from the board arrested.
- SwellJoe 12y ago
  Did she get them arrested for paying her for sex? Edit: I just spent another ten minutes reading some of the various rants against Susan. I suspect David Starr is/was mentally ill. His obsession with her is creepy, and the accusations bizarre and practically incoherent. I don't know if Susan is a nice person, or a cop, or a fed, or whatever...but the stuff David Starr says is way out there. Also, I can't believe I have spent this much time at 5AM reading some stupid, probably mostly made up, BBS drama from 34 years ago. Edit #2: The message you refer to is this: Message number 7166 is 18 lines from Jude Saucier To SUSAN THUNDER at 14!07:35 on 12-Mar-81. Subject: SUSAN'S PRANKS MS THUNDER, I HAVE BEEN OFF OF THE SYSTEM FOR QUITE SOME TIME ANO JUST FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO PAUL MONT. I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I AM QUITE SICK OF YOUR LITTLE PRANKS. lF YOU GET YOUR ROCKS OFF BY PICKING ON KIDS I SUGGEST YOU BUY A GOOD VIBRATOR INSTEAD. I'll GIVE YOU A CHALLANGE - IF YOU WANT TO PICK ON SOME ONE - LET IT BE ME. WHEN YOU DC THOUGH - LET ME WARN YOU - YOU ~Ill NEVER MESS ~ITH ANYONE PGAIN. JUST BECAUSE YOU GO TO THE EXTENTS THAT YOU DO TO GET PEOPLE IN TROUBLE FOR THINGS THAT YOU ARE GUILTY OF YOURSELF DOESN'T ~EAN THAT YOU CAN GET EVERBOOY. I HAVE SOME SURPRISES IN STORE FOR YOU WHEN YOU START TO TRY DOING DAMAGE TO ME. BY THE TIME I AM THROUGH YOU WON'T EVEN HAVE A TERMINAL TO USE THESE SYSTEMS. THAt•s ENOUGH FOR NOW BUT DON•T FORGET - I'LL BE WATCHING YCU AND I WILL <NOT MAYBE> GET YOU SOON. CONSIDER YOURSELF ~ARNED! !!! SEE YOU SOON JUDE. P.S. PAUL HAD BETTER BE OUT OF THIS MESS SOON - UNDERSTOOD?? I can't make much sense out of that. But, it's also full of misogyny and threats of violence. That's pretty fucked up.
  - Vivtek 12y ago
    > Also, I can't believe I have spent this much time at 5AM reading some ... I upvoted you just for this. I so very feel that pain.
akira2501 12y ago
You're missing the context. Susan Thunder is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Headley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Headley. She was a prostitute. She was an adversarial figure in the phreaking scene at the time. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but this is a small slice of a much larger scene.
- SwellJoe 12y ago
  Interesting. But, still, the threats of violence and general dehumanization of her by several people is pretty horrible (someone has suggested she got someone arrested, but I don't see confirmation of that or an explanation for why...if they threatened violence against her, as several messages in the archive do, I wouldn't begrudge her for reporting those threats to police, for example).
  - akira2501 12y ago
    Really it's a bunch of people trying to impress and out-do each other. "Dave Starr", "Susan Thunder", and "Roscoe Dupran" tangled with each other through almost any format available to them. Here's more old-school sources of all this rivalry: http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ http://phrack.org/issues/10/2.html http://phrack.org/issues/10/2.html
    - SwellJoe 12y ago
      It takes a truly epic troll to span decades...impressive, in a way. Embarrassing, too.
      - walterbell 12y ago
        Could be reusable handle(s) in an extended psychology experiment. One person could use multiple handles, or one handle could be used by multiple people.
        digi_owl 12y ago

bobcostas55 12y ago

If you read just 2 posts above the one you quoted, you'll see that "Susan" got someone from the board arrested.

SwellJoe 12y ago
Did she get them arrested for paying her for sex? Edit: I just spent another ten minutes reading some of the various rants against Susan. I suspect David Starr is/was mentally ill. His obsession with her is creepy, and the accusations bizarre and practically incoherent. I don't know if Susan is a nice person, or a cop, or a fed, or whatever...but the stuff David Starr says is way out there. Also, I can't believe I have spent this much time at 5AM reading some stupid, probably mostly made up, BBS drama from 34 years ago. Edit #2: The message you refer to is this: Message number 7166 is 18 lines from Jude Saucier To SUSAN THUNDER at 14!07:35 on 12-Mar-81. Subject: SUSAN'S PRANKS MS THUNDER, I HAVE BEEN OFF OF THE SYSTEM FOR QUITE SOME TIME ANO JUST FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO PAUL MONT. I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I AM QUITE SICK OF YOUR LITTLE PRANKS. lF YOU GET YOUR ROCKS OFF BY PICKING ON KIDS I SUGGEST YOU BUY A GOOD VIBRATOR INSTEAD. I'll GIVE YOU A CHALLANGE - IF YOU WANT TO PICK ON SOME ONE - LET IT BE ME. WHEN YOU DC THOUGH - LET ME WARN YOU - YOU ~Ill NEVER MESS ~ITH ANYONE PGAIN. JUST BECAUSE YOU GO TO THE EXTENTS THAT YOU DO TO GET PEOPLE IN TROUBLE FOR THINGS THAT YOU ARE GUILTY OF YOURSELF DOESN'T ~EAN THAT YOU CAN GET EVERBOOY. I HAVE SOME SURPRISES IN STORE FOR YOU WHEN YOU START TO TRY DOING DAMAGE TO ME. BY THE TIME I AM THROUGH YOU WON'T EVEN HAVE A TERMINAL TO USE THESE SYSTEMS. THAt•s ENOUGH FOR NOW BUT DON•T FORGET - I'LL BE WATCHING YCU AND I WILL <NOT MAYBE> GET YOU SOON. CONSIDER YOURSELF ~ARNED! !!! SEE YOU SOON JUDE. P.S. PAUL HAD BETTER BE OUT OF THIS MESS SOON - UNDERSTOOD?? I can't make much sense out of that. But, it's also full of misogyny and threats of violence. That's pretty fucked up.
- Vivtek 12y ago
  > Also, I can't believe I have spent this much time at 5AM reading some ... I upvoted you just for this. I so very feel that pain.

akira2501 12y ago

You're missing the context. Susan Thunder is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Headley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Headley. She was a prostitute. She was an adversarial figure in the phreaking scene at the time. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but this is a small slice of a much larger scene.

SwellJoe 12y ago
Interesting. But, still, the threats of violence and general dehumanization of her by several people is pretty horrible (someone has suggested she got someone arrested, but I don't see confirmation of that or an explanation for why...if they threatened violence against her, as several messages in the archive do, I wouldn't begrudge her for reporting those threats to police, for example).
- akira2501 12y ago
  Really it's a bunch of people trying to impress and out-do each other. "Dave Starr", "Susan Thunder", and "Roscoe Dupran" tangled with each other through almost any format available to them. Here's more old-school sources of all this rivalry: http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ http://phrack.org/issues/10/2.html http://phrack.org/issues/10/2.html
  - SwellJoe 12y ago
    It takes a truly epic troll to span decades...impressive, in a way. Embarrassing, too.
    - walterbell 12y ago
      Could be reusable handle(s) in an extended psychology experiment. One person could use multiple handles, or one handle could be used by multiple people.
      - digi_owl 12y ago