This has happened before and sadly, it will happen again. CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry was the subject of a discussion on a 4Chan message board regarding the content of the band’s new video for "Leave A Trace". Mayberry is lead singer of the band so takes centre stage in the video, just like Axl Rose, Julian Casablancas or Liam Gallagher may do. But many posters on 4Chan had a problem with it:

"I thought Lavren was pure, why did she agree to dress like a slut?"

"chvrches goes full hypocrite, nice 3 seconds of video time the other guys got"

"Time to whip out the Vaseline"

"Would you guys "fuck" Lavren?"

Not content with sitting around talking shit in a forum "privately", one of the 4channers actually requested her input and sent her a link to the board on Twitter. You know, just in case she felt the need to apologise to all those 4Chan dudes for appearing in her band’s video however she wants.

Mayberry has been the target of online misogyny before. She wrote an article for the Guardian in 2013 on her refusal to sit back and simply accept abuse and questioning the idea that women should simply accept targets of this vile nature. "Is the casual objectification of women so commonplace that we should all just suck it up, roll over and accept defeat?" she said.

In April 2015 she was abused again and Mayberry posted a rape threat that she’d received to her Instagram. See it below – warning, it’s gross.

A horrible aspect of the most recent misogynistic anti-CHVRCHES 4Chan thread is the idea that Mayberry has a question to answer, or she must come and defend herself. She is a creative woman making art and taking control of the presentation of her ideas and the way that she looks, as is absolutely her right.

She is wearing a dress and has wet hair, so fucking what? Considering the online abuse that she’s relentlessly suffered over the past two years it’s just cool that CHVRCHES are making videos at all. Watch "Leave A Trace" below: