I think it's brilliant. When one woman speaks up about being harassed in the street, groped by a stranger in a bar, or hounded for sex after she's said "no", she's often told to "lighten up" or "it's a compliment" or "boys will be boys" or "you were asking for it". When hundreds of thousands of women, of all ages and all walks of life, from all over the world say it's happened to them too, it's a lot harder for society to ignore. I hope this will open people's eyes that just didn't understand because it doesn't happen to them. The fact that it's a spontaneous uprising in reaction to the shooter's misogynist remarks makes it so much more powerful than any orchestrated "awareness campaign" could ever be.
It's also very cathartic. I reactivated my dormant twitter account to share an experience I had freshman year in college that I had never told anyone before, for the fear that it was somehow "my fault". It wasn't my fault, and on an intellectual level I knew it even then, but the fear and the sense I wasn't safe anywhere (as this happened in a crowded park where there were tourists, families and children everywhere) has remained to this day. Yes, it's all women!
It's also very cathartic. I reactivated my dormant twitter account to share an experience I had freshman year in college that I had never told anyone before, for the fear that it was somehow "my fault". It wasn't my fault, and on an intellectual level I knew it even then, but the fear and the sense I wasn't safe anywhere (as this happened in a crowded park where there were tourists, families and children everywhere) has remained to this day. Yes, it's all women!
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