'Your body, my decision': Attacks against women increased on social media after the election

Sexist and abusive attacks on women on social media, such as “your body, my choice” and “get back to the kitchen”, have increased since Donald Trump’s re-election, according to a report. analysis From the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes’ X post last Tuesday night, “Your body, my choice. Forever,” has been viewed more than 90 million times and reposted more than 35,000 times. Between Thursday and Friday, ISD recorded a 4,600% increase in mentions of the phrase on X. Also on TikTok, some women posted videos saying their comments were filled with users posting the phrase.

“Nick Fuentes” was still trending on X and TikTok on Monday. The phrase “We own your body” was also trending on TikTok, but most of the videos featured women bucking the trend.

“Your body, my choice” is a blatant subversion of “my body, my choice,” which she used as a rallying cry in support of women’s reproductive rights.

The increase in harassment suggests that far-right online trolls and extremists are emboldened by the results of the election, which many saw as a referendum on women’s reproductive rights. During the campaign, Trump came under fire for comments he made about women, including that he would “protect women whether they like it or not.” Vice President-elect J.D. Vance also reacted to comments about women, including mocking “childless cat women” and calling Vice President Kamala Harris “bullshit.”

Many of these trolls are part of the “manosphere,” which the ISD defines as online “misogynistic communities that range from anti-feminism to more explicit, violent rhetoric toward women.”

Experts worry that, as with many forms of online provocation, this type of harassment could spread to the offline world.

Already, ISD said, “Teenage girls and parents have used social media to share examples of offline abuse,” which included the phrase “your body, my choice.”

“These include statements directed at them in schools or uttered by young men in classrooms,” according to the report released Friday.

At least one American school district sent a warning to parents this week warning them that students were using the phrase to target girls at school.

“In the days after the election, we received reports that some students were using the phrase ‘Your body, my choice,’ often directed at female students,” said Cory Hirsbrunner, superintendent of the Stevens Point School District in Wisconsin. he said. Email to parents shared with CNN on Monday. “It is completely unacceptable for students to use any language that is threatening in nature. Students found to be in violation of school district policy will be subject to disciplinary action.”

In some cases, X and TikTok users responded to posts saying “your body, my choice” with vague threats of retaliatory violence.

Similar posts, including one from Jon Miller, a former writer for conservative media outlet TheBlaze, have gone viral on X in recent days. saying“Threatening women with sex strikes like LMAO as if they had a say” got 85 million views. (The post appeared to reference conversations among young liberal women on TikTok and Instagram about the South Korean feminist movement in which heterosexual women refuse to marry, have children, date or have sex with men.)

Posts calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, also rose 663% last week on X compared to the previous week, ISD reported.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The platform’s harassment policy generally prohibits targeted abuse only towards specific individuals.

A TikTok spokesperson said the phrase “your body, my choice” violates the platform’s community guidelines and that content containing the phrase will be removed unless it explicitly opposes such language. TikTok removed three videos identified by CNN that appeared to contain threats of retaliatory violence.

The rise of violent online rhetoric also brings with it the following consequences: Last week, black people across the country received anonymous, racist text messages He raised concerns about post-election violence by telling them they had been “selected to pick cotton from the nearest plantation”, a reference to slavery. Federal and state authorities are trying to find the source of the messages.

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