The tragic shooting of at least six people in Santa Barbara by twisted loser Elliot Rodger has provoked a huge online debate regarding the misogyny faced by women in day-to-day life, with many taking to Twitter to share their experiences using the hashtag #YesAllWomen.
Rodger, who targeted females in his drive-by shooting near the U.C. Santa Barbara before turning his gun on himself, did so out of an intense hatred for women as they spurred his advances, despite his belief that he was a “perfect gentleman”. I am typically of the belief that someone who commits such a heinous crime should not be given the attention they so dearly want, but the debate that has sparked from the shooting is one which is immensely important given the rampant, inherent misogyny faced by women in today’s society.
The #YesAllWomen hashtag was initially started by Twitter user @gildedspine, and has since become one of the top trends on the site worldwide. The hashtag has seen thousands of women recount their personal experiences of sexism, from everyday misogyny that is often wrongly overlooked (“I apologize whenever someone sees me without makeup. and I didn’t realize how stupid that is until just now”, tweets @paperandhoney), to far more terrifying and revealing glimpses into the day-to-day struggles faced by women (“I really shouldn’t have to carry my keys in between my knuckles while walking home from the bus stop”, writes @ieatdumplings).
The shootings, which took place in the Isla Vista neighbourhood, were a tragic, extreme example of the sense of entitlement possessed by many men. Rodger’s inflated sense of entitlement led to him taking the lives of innocent people, as he bemoaned that he was a virgin and “hadn’t even kissed a girl” in a YouTube video he posted before going on to commit the mass murders. Though Rodger may have taken his venomous hatred to an abhorrent level, this same entitled mindset is adopted far too frequently in modern society, and the 250,000 tweets posted under the #YesAllWomen hashtag is an eye-opening insight into the sexual abuse, both mental and physical, that women are subjected to.
Take a read through the #YesAllWomen yourself and prepare to be astonished at some of the stories.
