The killer in a rampage near Santa Barbara, California left behind writings and videos expounding upon his hatred for women and his desire for retaliation.
Although the killer has been the subject of more than a few admiring posts, as part of the discussion of misogyny, the usual explanation seemed to be “not all men” are like him. This was countered by a “yes all women” reply on twitter, the notion being that while not all men are guilty of misogyny, all women experience it. The “Yes All Women” hashtag quickly gained prominence, with women providing experiences and observations, with some support and some criticism from tweets seemingly from men.
Perhaps not surprisingly, more than a few tweets describing women’s experiences focused on the same issues discussed in the “dressing provocatively” section of Dressing Constitutionality. Here is a small sampling of the tweets:
#YesAllWomen because I should be able to wear whatever I want to school without "distracting" boys with my shoulders and legs exposed
— Lily (@FlawlesslyLily) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because too many of us were brought up to believe that "What were you wearing?" is a reasonable question.
— Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler) May 24, 2014
#YesAllWomen because at my school, taking non-consensual up-skirt photos is a lesser crime than wearing a skirt that is deemed 'too short'.
— Jessica Diamond (@JessicaHDiamond) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because we've been taught our whole lives how to dress and act so as to not distract men when they can't even respect us
— // maddie // *OMG* (@arcticmikeys_) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen I need feminism bc I still think to myself "slut" when I see a girl wearing short shorts just out of pure INSTINCT and HABIT.
— lyndsey (@nuclearseasons) May 25, 2014
Because @TorontoPolice cop actually said "women should avoid dressing like sluts" if we don't want sexual attention!" #YesAllWomen #SLUTWALK
— WheezySmurf (@snoopmary) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because I have to attempt to explain to my 11yr old daughter why the school dress code is fixated on what girls can't wear.
— Joy (@libhistgirl8) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because my school has a dress code used in order to avoid attention from male teachers
— Writer X (@Writer_X9) May 25, 2014
Because my daughters school has decided to create a dress code based on how "distracting" it is for the boys. #YesAllWomen
— @boopumpkins (@boopumpkins) May 25, 2014
Because a college professor once "joked" that he'd give me an A if I wore a short skirt and sat in the front row. #YesAllWomen
— Nancy Laichas (@nancylaichas) May 25, 2014
#YesAllWomen because we tell women how to dress instead of telling men not to rape. http://t.co/HTUOIznlX4 pic.twitter.com/xc3jun2L87
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) May 25, 2014
whenever i see a news story about a woman being raped the first thing they mention is what she was wearing #YesAllWomen
— ♡angel♡ (@littlebbygirl) May 25, 2014