It was a beautiful September morning, and journalist Maria Veitola had poured herself her second cup of coffee. She opened her laptop and, as usual, logged on to Twitter to read the comments in which she had been tagged.

So much for that nice morning.

"I don't have to put up with this," she thought. At the stroke of a button the Twitter account was gone. Veitola felt liberated, relieved.boisterous even.

It has been a little over a year since her decision and one she hasn't regretted for a single moment. Veitola had one single reason for deleting the tool that Finnish journalists are told is imperative to their work: Misogyny.

A well-known fact in the media industry is that women attract more flak than men, but why does a woman on TV elicit rage?

"Witch and feminist whore"

Veitola is used to the fact that no matter what she does, someone will feel provoked. Few journalists in Finland evoke as much emotion as Veitola.

"The evil witch, feminist whore who ruined Tomi Metsäketo's life," is how Veitola describes the most typical comment she used to receive on Twitter.

The Metsäketo reference is related to the pop singer getting fired from the Tähdet, Tähdet TV-programme in 2017. Veitola became the scapegoat for his firing after collecting testimonials from women about possibly inappropriate behaviour by Metsäketo, for which he publicly apologised (four of his accusers were later fined for defamation).

Veitola says she frequently receives private messages about what a nauseating person she is. That's what it's like to be Maria Veitola, along with all the colourful photos and nights with celebrities for her MTV3 show Yökylässä Maria Veitolan kanssa. It has featured revealing interviews with the likes of Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) and Foreign Minister Paavo Haavisto (Green).

Veitola inventories the insults so matter-of-factly that it sounds like they don't even hurt. Can one get used to the wrath or strangers?

The answer is no. In August, Veitola released a public update on Facebook and Instagram, saying she had been the target of a social media attack that made her frightened, anxious and discouraged: "My sin: I am an independent woman. I dress the way I want; I say what I want."

Leena-Maija Rossi, a docent in gender studies at the University of Helsinki, says that this is precisely the issue. Behavioural standards for women have always been different than for men. There is less wiggle room in terms of behaviour or even how to dress.

Sometimes there is no wiggle room at all. For example, if a female expert smiles, she is unprofessional. If she doesn't, she's too serious.

Misogyny may sound like a strong term, but if a gender is the cause of bitterness and disgust, that is its definition. Rossi has also decided not to follow posts tagged with her name on social media. Writing about feminism is too explosive.

Racism and hatred of women go hand-in-hand

Racism and hatred of women also led human rights activist and journalist Ujuni Ahmed to delete her Twitter account. Ahmed produced Somali-language coronavirus news for Yle in the spring of 2020 and also served as a news anchor.

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In addition to critique from the mainstream Finnish population, she also received unpleasant comments from her own community: Both focused on her appearance. The comments from the minority community focused on her overly Western standards of dressing. They felt Ahmed was not giving a proper image of women.

The comments from the majority population criticised her for wearing a headscarf and focused their wrath on Ahmed's cultural heritage.

"In today's society, being a Somali is a curse. I feel the feedback was different for me than for other non-native speakers," says Ahmed.

Even In this case, few reacted to the actual content of the news. The mere fact that Ahmed was on television caused outrage. It felt particularly deflating, as Ahmed herself had pitched Somali-language news to Yle, so that Finns with an immigrant background could receive important information about the pandemic.

The agency of a woman has always been limited and precisely defined. Failure to follow the rules will result in punishment, says Tuija Saresma, Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Jyväskylä. The modern form of punishment is commenting on social media.

"The norm is still a straight, white man. Therefore, Ujuni Ahmed, as a woman from a Somali background wearing a headscarf, was too much for many," says Saresma.

In the midst of the deluge of comments, Ahmed felt alone. The onus was on her to gather messages and tweets and file criminal reports, when she was running on fumes. The workplace did not have adequate resources to deal with the anger directed at her.

Veitola also says that the people at the top, such as producers and bosses, "stick their heads in the sand" when hostile feedback is at its worst. There is no know-how and no means to protect women, she says.

"It's very lonely, " Veitola concludes.

Who is entitled to the public sphere?

Reetta Räty has seen the dirty side of TV production. The most interesting phenomenon, to the experienced journalist, is who has a right to the public sphere. Räty hosted fan-favourite Uutisvuoto (Yle's version of the UK quiz show Have I Got News For You) in 2019. In her case, the comments were mostly focused on damage to her teeth caused by a car accident, her age, her voice and the speed at which she spoke.

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Räty says her feelings and experiences are ultimately irrelevant, but that she wants to point out the misogyny in Finnish culture, so that things can change. According to Räty, women are viewed as having forced themselves into their roles on television or into power positions, while men are there by nature.

"Women annoy people to the point of fury just by existing: by doing or not doing, laughing or being serious. It's hard for me to imagine that we shouldn't talk about it," she says.

Women's experience is downplayed

Experience is almost always downplayed if a woman is a public figure, has risen to a leadership position or an expert role. The uproar over Marin's background as a shop cashier and the term "lipstick government" for her predominantly young, female cabinet are good examples of this.

It feels like a woman has to be constantly justifying her own position and presenting her resume.

This is an issue that irritates Veitola. She has published two books and worked as a journalist for magazines, television and radio since 1994, including three years as editor-in-chief of Radio Helsinki - yet she is not always considered a serious journalist.

Where Veitola noticed the most glaring difference was in the attention paid to the three journalists hosting the Veitola, Enbuske & Salminen programme on MTV. Tuomas Enbuske and Roope Salminen would often be praised for insightful questions and thorough interviews, while even the positive feedback for Veitola was always related to her appearance.

If the people disparaging you are your colleagues, it feels worse.

After an interview with Veitola in the journalists' union publication Journalisti last year, rock critic Arttu Seppänen tweeted: "Wait a minute, I'm confused, at what point did Maria Veitola become a journalist?"

"The tweet was poorly worded and I didn't know about Veitola's background," Seppänen later tweeted.

A change for the better?

Without safety nets, none of these interviewees believes they would have survived. Women supporting each other in the industry comes as a great comfort to female journalists. Räty, for example, was contacted by several other women working in television, even before the flood of criticism began. They warned her that the feedback would be horrible, but support is there and can always be reached.

Veitola has also seen a change for the better in the overall work culture. Women have reached leadership positions and many of them understand that women who are caught in the middle of hate speech should not be left alone.

However, the night before this story was first published in Finnish, Veitola sent a message: "The way this autumn has progressed, I find that I'm afraid for my safety." For the first time, Veitola had given in to her fear.

It turns out misogyny does not just go away. Neither will women.

Based on an article by Iida Rauhalammi, published by Yle's Kulttuuricocktail TV programme on 31 October.