It has been a little over a month since 22-year-old Elliot Rodger went on a shooting spree near the University of California in Santa Barbara, killing six people and injuring some others before killing himself. What was the main motivation for such atrocity? To punish women and make them pay for the rejection he experienced from women who chose other men over him. Although there are many other reasons and issues concerning his mental health that might have contributed to his act, there is no denial that misogyny is a real issue nowadays with some pretty serious consequences in the lives of both women and men. After all, Rodger killed more men than women in his shooting spree, including himself.
Needless to say, this tragedy caused a lot of response and rage from women and men all over social media. The Twitter hashtag #NotAllMen came as a response from men saying that not all men are like Rodger, seeing women simply as objects for their own sexual pleasure who should never say “no” to a man. Although it’s true that not all men see women in such a way, the hashtag #YesAllWomen came as a response to make aware that, yes, all women have suffered, in a big or small way, the devastating effects of misogyny in our society.
Women began pouring out their experiences and thoughts on a subject that has been somewhat silenced for way too long in our culture. Two popular tweets read:
“I have a boyfriend’ is the easiest way to get a man to leave you alone. Because he respects another man more than you. #YesAllWomen”
“I shouldn’t have to hold my car keys in hand like a weapon & check over my shoulder every few seconds when I walk at night #YesAllWomen”
#YesAllWomen became viral in no time, with many articles written and events planned on the topic to create awareness of the danger of misogyny and the reality of sexual harassment against women experienced daily in our culture. #YesAllWomen may be just a hashtag, but it has become an extremely important and useful tool to help people, women and men, freely and openly talk about these serious issues.
Probably the greatest lesson #YesAllWomen has taught us is that we, women and men alike, do have a voice that can be heard. But we must be careful not to let it become just another trendy hashtag and conversation starter that goes forgotten with no real action or change made. #YesAllWomen has indeed become more than just a hashtag and it’s really up to us from now on for it to continue to be so. May we never forget and never stop speaking up.
Photo Sources:
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/fashion/daily/2014/05/28/28-yesallwomen-2.o….
http://wayvs.com/2014/05/28/yesallwomen-sparks-twitter-debate/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2014/05/the-power-of-yesallwomen.html