This paragraph, John, is the crux of the issue. I know that you refer to Greta as a “child” in parts of this post. But there’s an underlying factor and it’s this — girls ages 16–19 are 4 times more likely to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault than the average population.

To you, me and many others, Greta is still a child. Not even old enough to vote, although I wish 16 year olds were able to vote. But to those men — she is the age where contempt and misogyny kick in.

What you are seeing is how they respond to every woman who writes about controversial topics. It’s so prevalent it’s become white noise of the internet. No one even notices anymore. With Greta, it’s obvious because of the publicity she’s received. But there’s scores of women who know exactly what that’s like.

And you’re right — it’s a sweaty, macho twilight zone and it needs to stop. They need to grow up, or shut up. Don’t much care which. Either will do.