Twitter has become a forum for people to voice their opinions and find communities of people who have similar beliefs. It is unlikely that a single tweet has much effect or that merely tweeting can change anything, but when hundreds of people rally around a single hashtag and share their experiences Twitter becomes a powerful force. When a large audience participates and acts as activists it’s hard to ignore their calls for revolution.
In response to current issues involving violence towards women, both physical and societal, many Twitter users used the platform to highlight and share experiences. Women began to tweet about their personal experience with being discriminated against, marginalized, objectified and made to feel unsafe. All of the tweets centered around #YesAllWomen. The phrase is meant to play on the phrase “Not all Men” which is a common excuse in our society that men use when violence against women is brought up. For example, it is not uncommon to hear, “Not all men rape”. #YesAllWomen is meant to show that all women have had an experience where they have felt dehumanized, objectified or have been taught to protect themselves from men. Men who claim to be feminists and work for equal treatment used the hashtag to show support, some also used #HeForShe in addition to #YesAllWomen to show solidarity.
Of course, like all social movements there are people who disagree. Although there are many positive uses #YesAllWomen there are some that are negative and hurtful. Most of the negative tweets include distasteful rape joke and sexist comments. It’s hard to see such a powerful and positive movement be tainted with misogyny and ignorance, however #YesAllWomen is a force that holds more positive power than negative. It is a hashtag that has been used continuously in the face of debate about women’s rights and safety.
Warning: Some tweets have harsh language and ideas that may offend.
Opposing ideas:
@ElainMoria Most rape accusations are false, alleged by scorned "victims". Hence why low conviction rates 🙂 #YesAllWomen
— Roaring Lion (@HallowedGonads) November 20, 2015
rape is funny and women should be forced to suck dick (this may not be used to piss off feminists) #YesAllWomen
— BOT!!!! (@Stache_Bot) November 20, 2015
Tweets in support of #YesAllWomen
#YesAllWomen #Feminism YASSSSSSSSSSSS truu 👌 pic.twitter.com/wydmRqd0YZ
— ^_^ (@eggsbruh) November 29, 2015
#YesAllWomen raping a woman doesn't make her a whore, it makes you a rapist.
— GiftofGodsFavor (@GiftofGodsFavor) November 29, 2015
#YesAllWomen because I shouldn't have to justify why I'm worth not being assaulted.
— ashley (@eepashley) November 29, 2015
7 Girls Kicked Off #HighSchool #Basketball Team For Complaining About Handsy Coach in #Louisiana – https://t.co/Wnm8euQe9h #YesAllWomen
— lovemotionstory (@lovemotionstory) November 28, 2015
Because every single woman I know has a story about a man feeling entitled to access to her body. Every. Single. One. #YesAllWomen
— Emily Hughes (@emilyhughes) May 24, 2014
#yesallwomen because the media will mourn the lives of ruined high school football players, but not of the girls they assaulted
— amy ma (@eIectramy) May 26, 2014
Girls grow up knowing that it's safer to give a fake phone number than to turn a guy down. #yesallwomen
— Kate Tuttle (@katekilla) May 24, 2014
In college, a police officer told us to scream FIRE if we were in danger of being assaulted otherwise people won't get involved #YesAllWomen
— Carrie K. (@OneBookishMom) May 24, 2014
I think you are definitely right about Twitter being a forum for people to voice their opinions and when hundreds of thousands of users voice their opinions under a specific hashtag it does have the power to make an impact. As hashtags start to trend on Twitter I am definitely more likely to click on them from the Trending sidebar and read more about what people have to say and then form my own opinion and potentially tweet something out adding to the conversation. If thousands of users continually do this, it could get leaders’ attention and ultimately lead to a change.