For decades now, women have fought for their equality with men, beginning with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 with just three hundred people. Since then, the movement has grown to millions of women around the world continuing to fight for their rights, but with technology, cancel culture, and a new wave of feminism, the campaign continues to redefine itself. With the recent popularity of the hashtag ‘#killallmen’, I, as a feminist, began to question the ways of a modern woman’s liberation and its effectiveness and ethics.
In March of 2020, Twitter users created the hashtag ‘#killallmen’ in retaliation to misogynistic men ranging from those who assault, rape, or beat women to those who slut-shame, belittle, and dehumanize them; the phrase is also frequently used against users online who make rape jokes or do not take sexual assault stories seriously. In recent months, it spread rapidly into TikTok, which in turn started a sort of ‘gender war’ between socialist liberals and conservative Trump supporters.
So, why are select people angered by this? Of course, liberal feminists support this phrase and use it as an argument against sexists, but a majority of men see this as a direct attack towards them, which is fair reasoning, as the term states ‘all men’, not ‘some men’. However, irrespective of their gender, users of this phrase should know that it is only to be used against males who are sexist or degrading in any way, and men who genuinely respect women should know that this phrase does not apply to them at all. Regarding this, when the term is used against men who shame women, they claim the person using it is sexist and unfair—the hypocrisy is astounding.
Although a large percentage of men do not understand the meaning behind the phrase, there is a valid reason as to why women say it. Women, as we know, have dealt with decades and even centuries of sexism and oppression that has never truly been taken seriously by everyone. Yes, as a society we have progressed from confiding women to the kitchen, but there are still thousands of hate crimes being committed towards women such as rape, laws against abortion, and femicide.
Feminism was created to bring equality to both men and women; close-minded males have a common misconception that feminism is for women only, when in fact it is intersectional. Feminism includes men, the LGBTQ+ community, the transgender community, and people of every color. To some women, saying ‘kill all men’ is empowering because they use it as a way to shut down misogynistic men; in a way, it gives men a taste of their own medicine and lets them feel what it’s like to be a woman.
While the phrase is powerful to some, it exerts the opposite effect as well. In a literal context, the term itself is very explicit and may create a harmful and false impression of what real feminists stand for. Adolescent boys with no prior knowledge of real equality could feel as though they are getting attacked purely for their gender; oppressing the oppressor is never the answer. Furthermore, we have the responsibility to properly educate young boys on how to be egalitarian, and using this phrase does not exactly further their understanding of equality.
For those who are already uneducated on the topic, hearing the phrase does not help them realize their misogynistic ways. It would only further strain the relationship between both parties. The term itself tends to generalize all men as woman-hating. Stereotypes are something that women, especially those of color, have faced for decades now, so why would we want to inflict the pain of it on others even if it were the oppressor?
This contradicts feminism’s core beliefs and values. Imposing repressive behavior on those who have caused women harm does not solve the problem; yes, there is less of an issue with it as it does not facilitate any change, but that is exactly why it should not be said. It has no positive effect and only pushes sexists further from a proper education. Instead of guiding them, we are attacking them.
‘Kill all men’ unites only women and men who are feminists and who want to discredit misogynistic men. Though this may create an environment where sexism is eliminated, it also constructs a bubble revolving around this phrase with no outside opinions (which sounds a little like a dictatorship) and contradicts actual feminist or democratic views.
Now let’s discuss the retaliation to this phrase. Many right-wing men came up with a new expression: ‘rape all women 2020’. Besides the extremely traumatizing and graphic language used, the sentence is completely bigoted and taunts actual rape victims. It cannot be qualified as an actual joke, like ‘kill all men’, as this is already happening to women by the oppressor; and to find pleasantry in saying a phrase that encourages the raping of women is just modern-day oppression.
Women are not actually murdering men, so it is not to be taken literally. Another response to ‘kill all men’ is: “How can you kill all men when you cannot even stop them from raping you?”. There are many issues with this sentence, but the predominant one would be that it blames the victim. Instead of asking men to stop raping, it implies that women should be the ones to prevent it. Although both comments should not be said, the retaliation to ‘KAM’ is much worse as it is not reasonable to joke about something devastating already happening.
It cannot be denied that feminism is still very much needed today, but it must be remembered that there is a limit to what we say and what exactly we are fighting for. The response to ‘kill all men’ overwhelmingly proves that there is an enormous amount of people, especially men, that still need to be educated on basic women rights and the privilege men have been bestowed just for their gender. The point of feminism is to bring equality to all genders and not to overrule one another. We must remember the real purpose of the movement and not lose sight of what defines it.
