14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most important topics of discussion of our time is being debated on Twitter through the use of one single hashtag – #YesAllWomen – which has risen to fame these past few days.
While the discussion is extremely important, the way the topic has landed on everyone’s lips is twisted and dark.
Elliot Rodger, a young man that killed six people in Santa Barbara before killing himself, has provoked a strong reaction on social media due to a video he posted before going on a rampage. In the video, he rallies against women.
For some reason or another, this has led to people online accusing the women that refused to date him for the whole ordeal, making it obvious just how misogynistic the world we live in is.
The hashtag #YesAllWomen came to be as women and men from all over the world rejected the idea and called for an end to the misogynistic messages that were being posted online, which were calling for more violence against women everywhere.
In little over a day, the hashtag was used several hundred thousand times and reached the trending charts in several countries.
“Because we are told the way we dress is the fault of all rape victims #YesAllWomen,” is one of the messages posted on Twitter indicating just one of many problems women face often in today’s rape culture. Others point out that while women and girls are taught what to do and how not to dress in order to avoid abuse, the fact that this shouldn’t even be an issue is not mentioned at any time, nor that men need to be taught to respect the word “no.”
#yesallwomen bc rape is the only crime where the victim has to prove it wasn't their fault
— rule the ring (@rulethering) May 26, 2014
“Because ‘Text me and let me know you got home safe’ is standard, necessary and normal. #YesAllWomen” is another message that strikes close to home for most women.
#yesallwomen because "I have a boyfriend" is more likely to get a guy to back off than "no", because they respect other men more than women
— ZAmmi (@ZAmmi) May 26, 2014Other hashtags were born from this main one, including #NotAllMen, which tries to point out that not all men are the same and #YesAllMen, which points out that all men are responsible for allowing misogyny to happen.
The fact that Rodger felt entitled to date a woman and went on a killing spree just because he was rejected indicates yet another major problem of today’s society, as many tweets under the YesAllWomen hashtag point out.
#YesAllWomen does not exclude men or blame them, but it does highlight problems that affect more than half of the population of the globe.