With Donald Trump heading back to the White House, it's no surprise that Americans are once again contending with an increase in hate speech.
One of the lines of attack this time is “Your body, it's my choice.” Some people believe that the phrase “Your body, my choice. Forever” by white supremacist Nick Fuentes on Election Night It turns “my body, my choice” into an attack on women's autonomy and, in the worst case scenario, a threat of rape.
In the days following the election, TikTok creators saw the phrase appear in the comments of their videos, according to a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a global nonpartisan think tank that studies disinformation and extremism. reported seeing it. One creator said she had to remove the video because commenters were “saying things like, 'I can't wait until I get raped,' and 'Your body is my choice.'”
Families say girls and young women also hear the line at school, with one mother saying her daughter heard the line three times at school, and the boys told her to sleep with one eye open tonight. I posted on Facebook that I was told this.
According to the report, instances of the phrase increased by 4,600% on X between last Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, Fuentes' original post has been reposted more than 35,000 times.
The surge in sexist hatred reflects one of the dominant narratives of the election: that it was essentially a victory for men over women. Trump has focused much of his campaign on disaffected American men, especially young men. Many of them feel that they are victims of discrimination and have expressed outrage at feminist movements such as Me Too. For many of these men, the election feels like vindication, but for some even more, it's a chance to put women back in their place.
On the other hand, for those who have been subjected to misogynistic insults in recent days, the words may feel like a terrible harbinger of things to come. At the same time, experts told Box that Americans have experienced this type of hate speech before, particularly in the aftermath of Trump's first election in 2016, and that history holds lessons for navigating the present. He said there may be.
This phrase is part of a larger pattern of misogyny
The feminist phrase “My body, my choice” was being used regularly in rally chants by 1970, but it's not clear who coined it first, but the digital platform Our Bodies said Laura Prieto, program director for Ourselves Today. iconic reproductive health books our bodies, ourselves. many years ago Roe vs. Wadewhich called for the right to abortion, was also “a statement demanding the right of women to be equal human beings who have the right to decide what happens to them,” Prieto said.
The term has become less common on the left in recent years, especially after anti-vaccine activists adopted it. “My body, my choice” is now being used by Fuentes and others and turned into a tool to harass and intimidate women.
Although some people do not use this term, the election of President Trump reiterates the idea that women must submit to the will of men. On social media, postings range from “more coded misogyny” to “very direct threats of rape,” says the director of technology and society at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Isabel Frances Wright, one of the book's authors, told Vox.
The report says many of the sexist posts come from “manosphere” influencers like Andrew Tate and their followers. For example, Tate posted to X on November 7th: under. Is there a right of way? You no longer have rights. ”
The creators of Manosphere are part of a larger online ecosystem for men that has moved sharply to the right in recent years and helped propel Trump to victory, Vox's Rebecca Jennings reported. According to Washington Post exit polls, 55% of male voters voted for Trump this year, compared to just 45% of women. (However, it should be noted that exit polls are provisional data and therefore unreliable.)
On the internet, the disparity between men and women became apparent even before the election. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has reported that misogynistic posts (including calls for the repeal of the 19th Amendment) have been posted since October in response to the Harris campaign's focus on women voters and reproductive rights. It is reported that the number is increasing. The spread of the post “demonstrates the influence of an increasingly vindictive group of online activists who appear to be using the election results as a permission structure to more openly and aggressively support their discourse on suppressing women's rights.” ” said Francis Wright and co-authors. Mustafa Ayad wrote in his report:
A similar pattern emerged after Trump's first election in 2016, with civil rights groups and law enforcement reporting a spike in hate speech and attacks against women, Muslims and people perceived as immigrants. campaign explicitly or implicitly condemned all of these groups. This harassment extended to the classroom. A BuzzFeed analysis found that during the 2016-2017 school year, there were more than 50 incidents in which students quoted Trump's name or messages to attack their classmates.
Just because attacks are not new does not make them any less scary. “It's very traumatic, especially for young people,” Frances Wright said. In a country where President Trump just cruised to victory despite multiple sexual assault allegations, the implied rape threat can feel doubly terrifying.
How to counter post-election hatred
However, the harassment people are experiencing today is part of a long-standing pattern, so there are existing strategies to combat it. Some organizations, including schools and bookstores, have issued statements in recent days making it clear that they do not tolerate discrimination or harassment.
If you or someone you know is currently experiencing harassment, the following assistance is available:
The National Sexual Assault Resource Center has a list of resources for dealing with online harassment.
This is also a time to remember the long history of “My Body, My Choice” and all that it represents. This includes the hardships faced by women that at times must have seemed insurmountable, including the lack of many basic rights such as physical fitness for women. Opening a credit card in your name or serving on a jury.
“Many of the things we take for granted, just because they seem so powerful now, doesn't mean they always will be,” Prieto says. “The only thing you can trust is that things will change.”
