#YesAllWomen Is Trending Because It’s 2014 And Women Still Live In Fear

On Friday night, a 22-year-old man who – by the admission of many strange YouTube videos – felt continually slighted by women, exacted his revenge by going on a murderous rampage in a California college town. He killed six people before taking his own life. He referred to these actions as his “day of retribution,” in order to punish women as a whole for those few who rebuffed his advances. Elliot Rodger basically killed a bunch of people because he thought women owed him sex. We have a problem.

Women took to Twitter to share their own experiences with not feeling safe in a culture that perpetuates the myth that men are entitled some kind of ownership over women. The Tweets are sobering and heartbreaking. They make me realize just how much we put up with every, single day. We all handle it in different ways, but the constant oppression you feel as a woman is a cross you bear forever.  I’m disgusted. I’m tired. Something’s got to give. I’m so sorry for all the families who lost loved ones at the hands of this man.