Margaret, you are right to stay off of Twitter.  Not only is it a magnet for abuse from mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers, the 140 character limit only allows for pithy comments that lack anything approaching depth.

I agree that trolls target women disproportionately, but even on a moderated forum such as this, veiled and not-so-veiled abuse is both rampant and indiscriminate.  Buckels' analysis was fairly on point, but I think she completely missed the central point.  Online trolls don't need to face their victims, and it is also less effective to stand up to them.

Schoolyard bullies will always move to an easier target if they meet strong resistance.  Not so with trolls, who can hide behind their computer screens and rarely doubt the wisdom of their biases.

How best to deal with them?  Silence.  No reaction means no pleasure for the troll. And if you are a victim, just remember.  A person who gets pleasure in another's pain is a far lower creature than you are.