Lewis' Law

Lewis' Law

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Updated Jul 05, 2018 at 02:35AM EDT by Y F.

Added Jul 17, 2015 at 04:53PM EDT by Tomberry.

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About

Lewis' Law is an internet axiom asserting "The comments on any article about feminism justify feminism." Similar to Godwin's Law and The Greater Internet Dickwad Theory, it serves as a reminder that the longer an online discussion lasts, the more likely it will eventually contain ad hominem attacks and shitposting.

Origin

The phrase was coined by English journalist Helen Lewis on her Twitter account[1] on August 9th, 2012 (shown below). As of July 2015, the tweet has gained around 800 retweets and 700 favorites.

Follow ▼ Helen Lewis @helenlewis As I've just told ealicetiara, the comments feminism. That is Lewis's Law. Reply Retweet ★Favorite More 71 17 12:05 PM-9 Aug 12

As a law, it has been rephrased as follows:

"The comments on any article about feminism justify feminism."

Spread

The Tweet itself remained rather unknown for several months before it was printed on March 23rd, 2013 in a Wired article[2] reporting on the Donglegate incident and discussing the online rise of MRA and more general sexism in the tech industry. On April 2nd, 2013, Lewis, acknowledging the Wired article, commented on the newborn fame of her eponymous law on her Tumblr. [3] On April 3rd, the law was picked up by the "Feminist Philosopher" blog[4], beginning its general embrace by feminists online, and used in opinion pieces and articles written on The King's Tribune[5] in September 2014, on Pipe Dream[6] in October 2014 or Belle Brita[7] in June 2015.

Following its popularity online, the law was added to Urban Dictionary in September 2013,[8] to the Geek Feminism Wiki in April 2013[9] and to the Rational Wiki in May 2013,[10] which offered to rephrase the law so that it aligned more with Godwin's Law, as follows:

As the comment section of any article about feminism grows, the probability of someone saying something utterly vile, stupid and/or ignorant about women – something that justifies the existence of feminism – approaches one."

External References

[1] Twitter – Helen Lewis' status / 8-9-2012

[2] Wired – Donglegate: Why the Tech Community Hates Feminists

[3] Tumblr – I genuinely feel that my existence is justified by this Wired piece.

[4] Feminist Philosophers – Lewis’ Law

[5] The King's Tribune via WayBack Machine- Lewis' Law and online misogyny

[6] Pipe Dream – Dissent justifies feminist movement

[7] Belle Brita – Why I Need Feminism: Just Read the Comments

[8] Urban Dictionary – lewis' law

[9] Geek Feminism Wiki – Lewis' Law

[10] Rational Wiki – Feminist internet laws

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Top Comments

cb5
cb5

The problem with this idea is that it automatically assumes that everyone who disagrees with feminism is irrational/"misogynistic" or such. I wouldn't call it a "law" so much as baiting people to prove one's self right; to use an analogy let's say "all nintendo fans are a bunch of raging angry nerds" it would be illogical to say that cause you baited nintendo fans that therefore all nintendo fans are angry.

In other words "Lewis' Law" is a charged fallacy meant to invoke a negative angry comment to cherry pick rather than relying on merit's of the argument being presented. To put it another way every time someone posts a calm rational comment about feminism the "Law" becomes untrue.

+157
lisalombs
lisalombs

As the comment section of any article about anorexia grows, the probability of someone saying something utterly vile, stupid and/or ignorant about weight – something that justifies the existence of anorexia – approaches one.

As the comment section of any article about suicide grows, the probability of someone saying something utterly vile, stupid and/or ignorant about depressed people – something that justifies the existence of suicide – approaches one.

As the comment section of any article about pedophile rights grows, the probability of someone saying something utterly vile, stupid and/or ignorant about pedophiles – something that justifies the existence of pedophile rights – approaches one.

well that was fun, thanks feminism.

+103

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