#YesAllWomenLIVE - From tweets into the streets

Take to the streets one week after the misogynist murders in Santa Barbara, in resistance against the whole culture of rape, violence against women, and patriarchy. Join people in cities across the country in bringing these messages and more into rush hour, into the public square, and into the conversation.

In response to the mass murder in Santa Barbara by a man who openly proclaimed his hatred for women, stand up to STOP violence against women in every form.

Protest, Rally, Speak Out

But it is INTOLERABLE and OUTRAGEOUS that #YesAllWomen face degradation, harassment, derision, ridicule, shame, and violence -- or the constant threat of violence -- and sexual assault.

We must go from tweets into the streets -- to express our outrage, to stand together publicly, and to draw forward others to stand up and say NO MORE!

No more rape, rape jokes, gang-rape, or rape porn… no more acid attacks, "honor" killings, or kidnappings… no more street harassment or roofies… no more anti-abortion restrictions or denial of birth control… no more forced motherhood or sexual objectification… no more misogyny and no more excuses.

We can and must END the enslavement and degradation of women in all its forms.

What better time than now? What better place than here? Who else, if not all of us and YOU?

The Story:

After UCSB student Elliot Rodgers went on a shooting spree on May 23, 2014, to exact his revenge on women for not having sex with him, social media exploded with conversations and stories about misogyny, male entitlement, the oppression of women, rape culture, and patriarchy, under the hashtag #YesAllWomen.

In a video he recorded the day before he shot several students in Santa Barbara, Rodgers revealed his plan:

On the day of retribution, I am going to enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB and I will slaughter every single spoiled, stuck up, blonde slut I see inside there. All those girls that I’ve desired so much, they would have all rejected me and looked down on me as an inferior man. If I ever made a sexual advance toward them, while they throw themselves at these obnoxious brutes. I’ll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you. You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one, the true alpha male.

The initial conversation on Twitter about this tragic incident as a product of a male supremacist system and culture was met with backlash under the banner of #NotAllMen (as in, don’t blame men, this is a gun control issue, this is a mental health issue, this is any other kind of issue than the oppression of women). The result was an outpouring of stories and the wide acknowledgement of a culture that objectifies women and feeds male entitlement.

Some of the #YesAllWomen Tweets:

@S_Indus: #YesAllWomen Because media portrays women as sexual objects and men as ordinary human. #EndPatriarchy

@Auragasmic: There's a reason Elliot Rodger wanted women's rights abolished - it's for the same reason the Antichoice community does - control.

@RoxyV3000: Bc when he attacked me & I called for help, cops arrested ME for assault when I admitted to "pushing him off me to dial 911" #YesAllWomen

@idareyoudarling: Girls in college are buying pepper spray and rape whistles while guys buy condoms #YesAllWomen

@avada_kaydavra: #YesAllWomen because we aren't a "trophy" or a "prize". We're human beings.

@Dahlia_Addams: #YesAllWomen being told we're too sensitive & need to learn to relax/have a sense of humor about our objectification & oppression.

@caroledgarian: Women kidnapped in Nairobi; gunned down/raped on campus; abortion rights negated & folks r spooked by the word Feminist? #YesAllWomen

Join in Friday and take to the streets to tell the truth: male entitlement, rape culture, ongoing violence against women, and patriarchy are all real, AND they are not permanent. Let’s tell the stories of women and stand together to end patriarchy.