I was once a staunch believer in the power of a hashtag.
Give someone the internet, and you’re giving them a kind of voice no amount of vocal cords can produce. One that has the ability to reach masses. One that can unite a community of voices to form a choir of empowered subjects.
There’s little wonder why #yesallwomen nearly broke the internet this week. Because collectively, women have had enough. Yes. All women. Every last one.
And so, women flocked to social media and created one unified, empowered chorus. Hitting back at misogynistic ramblings and sexist musings.
And for a fleeting moment, it seemed progress was possible. That a hashtag carried weight.
Image via Wendy Sachs
Until #notallmen was started. And many sought to dismantle the conversation.
The fact that #notallmen completely and embarrassingly missed the mark isn’t even the most tragic point here.
The tragedy lies in the fact we are putting all our energy into raising awareness of pressing issues over Twitter, set to achieve what exactly?
Empowerment? Maybe. Awareness? Probably.
But despite all our efforts to fight against sexism, #yesallwomen was still met with resistance. We were forced to recognise that a hashtag carries little power, unable to open the narrow mindsets of the dogged misogynists.
Because many still didn’t understand the cause.
And so, we learnt a lot this week from #notallmen.
We learnt that a hashtag doesn’t educate.
We learnt that a hashtag doesn’t eradicate ignorance.
And we learnt that a hashtag won’t change years of oppression.
Years of enduring men, like that of the ill-fated Elliot Rodger, who believe that women owe them something.
We learnt to effectively fight these #notallmen attitudes, we can’t put every ounce of our time, energy and faith into social media. Global conversations can only get us so far. Awareness can only get us so far.
Clementine Ford, writer for Daily Life, wrote on her blog:
“I am afraid of you, the man who refuses to listen to the experience of women, instead arguing that ‘not all men’ are like that… You are pretending that the frustration of being treated with caution is equal to the frustration of having to be cautious.”
And she’s right. #notallmen are the ones we should be afraid of. The ones who won’t be divorced from their ignorance after reading a single tweet.
Because a hashtag isn’t education. Education is education. And that will always have a bigger impact.
Why is everything on twitter these days about men being rapists and sexual pigs… #NotAllMen
— Hunter (@NunterHormand) May 29, 2014
#Notallmen understand that it’s not all about them.
— Clementine Ford (@clementine_ford) May 26, 2014
zaramcdonald 
We need to educate men and women and we need to acknowledge that both genders are capable of perpetuating and falling victim to violence. Women, undoubtedly, endure violence and rape at a much higher rate than men – but does this mean the men who are affected are not worthy of mention and our sympathies?
But more importantly, we need to educate boys that violence doesn’t constitute masculinity and tell girls that they’re not alone and should not feel ashamed. And we need to do this in schools and the home – not on Twitter.
http://9gag.tv/p/aVYL7p/what-happens-when-the-public-sees-a-woman-abusing-a-man-domestic-violence?ref=jfs
I was simultaneously inspired and disgusted by the #YesAllWomen hashtag: inspired by the bravery of the women coming forward and confessing (what shouldn’t be) shameful stories of assault and degradation, and disgusted that we have come to the point where we need to vent these frustrations. We shouldn’t even have them: the fact that “all women” have been made uncomfortable solely because of their gender is an utter disgrace. The #notallmen tweets were embarrassing for those who posted them, as were the tweets under anti feminist #notallwomen. It’s not about being anti-feminist, it’s about being pro-women in order to achieve a safe society where such pointless tragedies are rendered impossible.
A good article with reasonable points. Whether good or bad, all hash tags carry with them a sense of hysteria and finger pointing. It is not until we have a sort of citizen bipartisanship that real change can begin. It’s going to take generations of education to make a difference on mysogyny. Until then, hashtags might be the best conversation starter we have.
The #NotAllMen hashtag is absolutely terrifying. It just shows how intrenched these misogynistic views are that rather than reading the #YesAllWomen hashtag and UNDERSTANDING what women all around the world are faced with everyday, they somehow managed to still make it an issue about their own feelings and self esteem. Yes, educating boys how to treat women properly is a start, but a there will still be men out there who think women owe them something. And that’s a scary thought.
Hashtags aren’t the be all and end all, but I think they’re a healthy place to vent and understand you’re part of a community and not alone. And by that I mean #YesAllWomen and not the whining #NotAllMen.
One Twitter account I really love following is @Yes_YoureSexist (https://twitter.com/Yes_YoureSexist), which basically RTs sexist comments people (man or woman) have made on Twitter and it’s satisfying to watch.
There’s a lot of frustrating things that need to be changed to help men understand feminism better, to understand why women have suffered more and have more to fear then men, and to minimise the #NotAllMen trope. But that’s another argument (maybe consider writing one, Zara?), until then, there are hashtags.
What an interesting post! The #Notallmen is shocking. As a woman I believe society has come a long way with regards to women’s rights; we still however, have a long way to go in terms of being respected by society and, by many men in general. I do however believe that hashtags do hold more weight than perhaps we give them credit for. After all, both hashtags did at least succeed in arousing debate about women’s rights and feminism- I like to think the #Notallmen exposed and made palpable the misogyny that, lamentably, exists in society. Like Roman said above, its going to take a long time to educate men about how to treat women properly but maybe we can use this recent example to take the argument further, even if that does mean presenting it in the form of hashtags.
I think that this is a really interesting perspective on the #yesallwomen movement. I guess I hadn’t previously considered the importance of thinking about #notallmen and how crucial it is that we address these views. The ‘not all men’ excuse misses the point – a point that #YesAllWomen explicitly makes clear. No, not all men are misogynists, but yes, all women experience the affects of a patriarchal society at one stage of their live. So what we see is men, or advocators of ‘not all men’, whose perceptions are entirely doused with sexist opinions.
I believe the ‘yes all women’ hashtag is IMPORTANT because it is bringing these issues to the forefront of media attention and doing it in the simplest way – using three words to make a difference. I completely agree with you though – education is key but I fear that this issue of sexism is so deeply embedded into our psyche that it will require a complete upheaval of societal standards in order to treat the root of the problem. We live in a patriarchy and STILL women aren’t treated equally.
The hashtag’s certainly a starting point, at least in creating awareness and a sense of empowerment coming from solidarity with others over an important issue. But like you say it’s kind of double-edged sword, with the capacity to link the ignorant and give them a sense false sense of solidarity. Question is how do we educate, in schools, conversations like these?