#YesAllWomen takes Twitter by storm (and some of my experiences).
Elliot Rodger had made several disturbing videos, saying that he sought revenge on women for rejecting him. He was angry at women for dating other guys. He was angry at men for dating the women he wanted to date. He wanted to murder sorority members at his college.
Since the shootings took place, women from all over the world have shared their feelings on how unsafe they feel. #YesAllWomen have given women a voice to come together against misogyny, against a culture in which we do not feel safe.
Some of my #YesAllWomen moments:
-When I was between the 5 and 7, I was verbally and physically abused by my mother's obnoxious boyfriends. No one believed me and I had no one to stick up for me. I had no voice. I was an innocent. I stopped being a child. I was a broken and frightened mess. I started self-injury at age 7 to deal with the abuse.-When I was about 14 or 15, I was at the mall with a friend of mine. I was on the escalator, talking to my friend about what store to go to next. An older guy grabbed my ass and had no shame in it whatsoever. I was a child, and he didn't care. I felt unsafe and violated.
-Throughout my teen years, I was never good enough for boys because I was told I was too fat to be pretty. I was told I got uglier every year. I never dated. The only boy that expressed an interest in me was at my summer camp, and I was his "secret" girlfriend. I deserved better than to be someone's "secret" girlfriend!
-In college, I dealt with a guy who emotionally abused me. He talked about intimate details, and made fun of my body.
-When I was 22, I moved to North Carolina. The first apartment I rented was in a bad neighborhood. Each night, I had to walk a quarter of a mile from the bus stop to my apartment. I was followed home every night by men who whistled at me, cat-called, and hit on me. These men were drunk and high. When I got to my apartment complex, and requested for a guard to escort me to my apartment, the guard would hit on me too. I never felt safe.
-When I moved back home to CT in 2006, I dated a guy who I thought was really nice. When he dumped me because I refused to have a threesome with him, I was harassed by his friends. His friends told me that he doesn't date "fat chicks." He just "fucks" them.
-In 2011, I met a guy who also had a problem with me being overweight. He made me feel like I was a million pounds. Even though I had lost a lot of weight and was nearing a healthy BMI, he still said that being with me was still like operating heavy machinery.
-A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were in Target, and we ran into an old classmate of his. It was some asshole that my boyfriend didn't like. This guy took one look at my stomach and said to my boyfriend "so you got one in the belly?" I was fuming. I made two fists, looked at this asshole and told him, "No, dude. I'm just fat." (I do have a bit of a belly due to the fact that I'm not as active, due to a serious back injury that I'm awaiting surgery for) Guys, there are a few things that you should never assume about women: that they are fat or pregnant. I nearly kicked the dudes ass. In fact, as my boyfriend and I were walking toward his car, I turned around and almost went back into the store. Despite my back injury, I was going to kick the guy's ass.
I am still scarred by memories of the abuse of my past, and I still suffer some body image issues. Guys who victimize us don't take a second to think about what their words and actions do to us. They are too busy thinking with their cocks. All they care about is busting their nut.
Men say that we are too emotional or we over-think or overreact to certain things. Guys don't take the time to see what it's like to live like a woman in today's world. If they saw what it's like to constantly be told that they are too emotional, or they over-think too much, they wouldn't like it. What if they got followed home late at night, or were cat-called while walking to and from work? What if they were harassed while jogging in the park, or slipped a date rape drug? These things happen to women all the time, everyday. It has happened to people WE KNOW!
This shit has to stop. People ask me why I get so emotional and passionate about these kinds of things. It's because it hits home to me. Abuse, violence, rape victims, etc., it all hits home for me. I've seen family go through it, friends go through it. I've lived through it.
We women shouldn't be living in fear. This is our world too.
