 "How online sexist attacks on US women are on the rise after Donald Trump’s win")
Donald Trump’s re-election has divided the United States. While the Republican leader is busy picking the members of his Cabinet, a report has found that sexist and abusive attacks on women in the US have surged across social media after his victory.
According to an analysis from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a London-based think tank, there has been a rise in misogynistic phrases like “your body, my choice” and “get back to the kitchen” online since Trump defeated Democrat leader Kamala Harris last week in the White House race.
Let’s take a closer look.
Online sexist attacks on women rise
The phrase “your body, my choice” has been popularised by White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. He wrote on X last Tuesday (November 5), “Your body, my choice. Forever.”
The tweet has been viewed over 90 million (nine crore) times and has been reposted more than 35,000, as per CNN.
The phrase was picked up by men on the far right who left comments on women’s posts across social media, especially those who expressed dismay at the election outcome, NBC News cited the ISD report as saying.
The think tank found a 4,600 per cent uptick in mentions of the terms “your body, my choice” and “get back in the kitchen” on X between Thursday and Friday last week.
Several women took to TikTok to post videos saying their comments were filled with users posting the “your body, my choice” phrase. It is an apparent retort to “my body, my choice,” which has been used by women to advocate for reproductive rights.
The development signals that far-right trolls have been fuelled by the US election results which many saw as a referendum on women’s reproductive rights, noted CNN.
A TikTok spokesperson told NBC News that phrases like “your body, my choice” violate community guidelines. The platform has taken down some videos in the last week, the spokesperson added.
There is a growing worry that such sexist attacks could spill over from the online world to offline. Hats and T-shirts promoting the phrase are available on some e-commerce sites, reported NBC News.
The institute said the phrase has already been used to harass women offline. “Young girls and parents have used social media to share instances of offline harassment” involving the phrase “your body, my choice.”
“They include the phrase being directed at them within schools or chanted by young boys in classes,” the report said.
As per CNN, a school in Wisconsin alerted parents that the phrase has been used to attack girls at school.
“In the days after the election, we have received reports of some students using the phrase, ‘Your body, my choice,’ often directed at female students,” Cory Hirsbrunner, the superintendent of Stevens Point School District in Wisconsin, reportedly told parents in an email. “It is simply unacceptable for students to use any language that is threatening in nature. Any students found to have violated school district policy will be subject to disciplinary action.”
Other posts like those calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment, which gives women the right to vote in the US, saw a 663 per cent increase on X last week, compared to the week before, according to the ISD report.
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Emboldened ‘manosphere’
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue says that many extremist politicians and influencers that are part of the so-called “manosphere” feel emboldened by Trump’s victory.
The ISD describes the manosphere as online “misogynistic communities that vary from anti-feminism to more explicit, violent rhetoric towards women.”
The report warned that as these misogynistic voices online “exploit Donald Trump’s election as a rebuke of both reproductive rights and women’s rights, the impact on women could extend into the next presidential election and beyond.”
The report comes amid other instances of hateful rhetoric surfacing after Trump’s win. Last week, Black people across the US started getting racist texts, telling them they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” a reference to slavery. The FBI and state law enforcement agencies are yet to find the origins of these messages.
Trump’s ‘sexist’ campaign against Harris
Trump’s election campaign came under fire for sexist remarks against his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her stupid and weak. He said in July that the world leaders would treat Harris “like a play toy” if she’s elected president.
Towards the end of his campaign trail, the Republican declared he would protect women, “whether the women like it or not.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance was also criticised for his remarks on women, including ridiculing “childless cat ladies” and calling Harris “trash.”
With inputs from agencies
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