Comedian Sara Schaefer responds to online trolls after feminist Tweet receives barrage of abuse

'There’s this insane double standard in which women are expected to mold themselves to society’s expectations but at the same time be completely impervious to them'

Sara Schaefer, a 37-year-old American stand-up comedian, writer and producer (Sara Schaefer/ Facebook )

A female comedian has responded to internet trolls after a feminist joke she posted on Twitter was flooded with abusive messages.

Sara Schaefer, a 37-year-old American stand-up comedian, writer and producer, posted what she described as “a critique of all the things people, society, and industry types tell [female comics] to do”.

Posting a picture of a handwritten “comedian to do list” Ms Schaefer's joke had serious undertones about the differences in the way female and male comedians are expected to behave.

While Ms Schaefer’s “male comic to do list” read “Be funny”, her corresponding female comic list read: “Be pretty, but not too pretty”, “be feminist, but not too feminist”, “make sure your ideas will appeal to a male audience as well” and “don’t turn 40”.

Writing in The Medium, Ms Schaefer reveals the tweet, which has been shared more than 4,800 times, was greeted with an “array of trolling”.

Comments posted in reply to the list included messages suggesting Ms Schaefer was “complaining too much” , “sexist”, “a bitch, annoying, a child”, “ugly”, as well as crude sexual comments.

“The list doesn’t suggest that it’s necessarily easy for men; it’s just pointing out the added stuff that women have to deal with,” said Ms Schaefer.

“There’s this insane double standard in which women are expected to mold themselves to society’s expectations but at the same time be completely impervious to them and rise above like some kind of phoenix.

“As if every other week we don’t see a new article about the down-trend of female roles and jobs in my industry; as if we don’t keep finding out we’re getting paid less than our male counterparts; as if women’s bodies and humanity aren’t under constant attack in every cranny of society.

“These men are acting like I posted a video of myself beheading a man and screaming out “KILL THE MEN! THE REVOLUTION IS UPON US!” When in reality, I barely said anything of note, and it definitely wasn’t a shocking revelation to anyone who does this for a living.”

A survey published last year by Pew Research found around 40 per cent of Internet users have experienced some kind of harassment.

It further found women, particularly those aged between 18 and 24, endure higher rates of threats.

Thirty-eight per cent of women said they had experienced “extremely” or “very upsetting” online harassment, compared to 16 per cent of men.