“I am inspired to pursue research on women's rights as well as the rights of other marginalised groups because of how urgent these issues are.”

Dr Louise Richardson-Self, a Lecturer in Philosophy and Gender Studies in the School of Humanities, is working on an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award examining why women are victims of frequent online hate speech in the ordinary cyberspaces that we now frequent.

As misogyny continues to spread to new areas of social engagement, Dr Richardson-Self’s research has found that there is an evolving “degree of cultural tolerance for gendered slurs to the extent that many would not ever consider them to be instances of hate speech”.

“I want to understand where this ignorance and tolerance comes from and I want to know what it will take for women’s cybersafety to be prioritised on a broader cultural level,” she said.

“Many of us have experienced the kind of abuse I am tracking, the type of abuse that is sometimes extremely vulgar, sometimes subtle, sometimes veiled, sometimes overt, but always hostile. However, copping abuse for no other reason than that you are a woman is fundamentally wrong.

“It can be tempting to believe that prejudice against women has been eliminated from our society but unfortunately, this is not true.”

Philosophy has formed the framework in which Dr Richardson-Self analyses complex problems. “To me, philosophy is not just about trying to find the most logical answer, it’s about learning to see a problem from all of its angles, especially when the answer to the problem is not always obvious.”

By combining her Philosophy background and her extensive knowledge of Gender Studies, Dr Richardson-Self is applying a new way of thinking to pertinent modern issues.

“I hope that my research will demonstrate that we need a broader conception of what ‘cybersecurity’ is, encourage societies like mine to take up this broader understanding, and illustrate the ways that women’s cybersecurity is damaged via misogynistic hate speech.”

While Dr Richardson-Self’s research will contribute to a broad feminist project of undercutting institutionalised sexism, she sees the impact of her research being primarily educational.

“What inspires me to teach is that very same spark of curiosity that drew me to both Gender Studies and Philosophy, and the responsibility of providing students with the tools they need to fundamentally understand the world around them.”

Aside from her teaching, Dr Richardson-Self’s career highlights include winning the Australasian Association of Philosophy's Annette Baier Prize in 2019 (an annual prize for an outstanding philosophical paper or book chapter published by an Australasian woman), and winning the Australian Academy of the Humanities Max Crawford Medal, which is Australia’s most prestigious award for achievement and promise in the Humanities) in 2016.