Tone policing

Tone policing (or tone trolling or tone argument or tone fallacy) is an antidebate appeal based on genetic fallacy, which attempts to detract from the validity of a statement by attacking the tone rather than the message.

In Bailey Poland's book, Harassment, Abuse, and Violence Online, she suggests that tone policing is frequently aimed at women.^[1] and that it derails or silences opponents lower on the "privilege ladder".

In Keith Bybee's How Civility Works, he notes that feminists, Black Lives Matter protesters, and anti-war protesters have been told to "calm down and try to be more polite". He argues that tone policing is a means to deflect attention from injustice and relocate the problem in the style of the complaint, rather than address the complaint.^[2]

Critics have argued that tone policing is a flawed concept. As discussed by The Frisky's Rebecca Vipond Brink, the act of labeling tone policing may itself be considered tone policing^[3]

See also

• Fallacy
• Mansplaining

References

1. Bailey Poland (2016) Haters: Harassment, Abuse, and Violence Online, p. 46. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9781612348728.
2. Keith Bybee (2016) How Civility Works, p. 30. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503601543.
3. Rebecca Vipond Brink (2014-09-07). "Calling Out Tone-Policing Has Become Tone-Policing". Retrieved 2016-11-18.

External links

• Jesse Benn The White Anti-Racism Tone Police: White Supremacy vs. White Privilege The Huffington Post 24 Jul 2015
• Amanda Marcotte Tone Policing Only Goes One Way Raw Story 22 May 2013