Hellbent's position that labeling targeted comments, rumors, and shitposts as sexual harassment is an over-extension that helps no one, sounds reasonable on the surface if you're picturing generic edgy memes or one-off jokes. But it collapses once you look at the actual pattern being described.
The core issue isn't "any criticism of cringy fanfic equals harassment." It's the specific move of turning a woman's (alleged or exaggerated) online activity into repeated, sexualized rumors "she wrote a rape fantasy about Lerix" and then weaponizing that framing to mock, demean, and drive her out of the space. Spreading or amplifying false or distorted sexual claims about someone isn't neutral "shitposting." It's a classic tactic in gendered harassment: sexualize the target, smear her reputation with the most inflammatory label possible, then act shocked when anyone objects.
Legal and practical definitions of sexual harassment (hostile environment, severe or pervasive conduct of a sexual nature) already cover more than just physical touching or direct threats. Online, when a community piles on with the same trope "rape fanfic," "cuck shit," etc. against women who step out of line, it functions as exclusionary enforcement.
@epicastan997 and
@NotFoodshops point about women trickling out of snark spaces because of exactly this kind of sex-pest behavior and incel-adjacent sexism isn't abstract; it's a predictable outcome when one side treats any pushback as "inability to roll with the punches." Hellbent is right that over-broadening "harassment" to cover all rude or offensive speech dilutes the term and chills discussion. But the opposite error is just as real: pretending that every instance of sexualized rumor-mongering, targeted degradation, and "it's just jokes bro" pile ons is harmless free expression with no downstream effects. In tight-knit online circles, those effects are measurable—people self-exile, participation skews, and the remaining culture becomes more toxic and male-coded by default.
You don't have to agree that every edgy comment is harassment to recognize that this specific flavor of rumor sexual framing group mockery isn't value-neutral banter. It's a tool. Dismissing the objection as "extending the definition" is a convenient way to avoid debating whether the behavior itself is worth defending.
Have you thought this through? Extending the definition of sexual harassment to mean comments and shitposts would benefit neither you nor your overlord