Twitter reaction to Elliot Rodger shooting

Trigger warning: violence against women.

Women don't want retribution. They want to be heard.

Elliot Rodger gathered a load of firearms and ammunition in his room then went on a killing spree. If you have seen the video clip he released before the hell he unleashed and read some of the comments from family members and his peers in the following days, it's clear he was a mentally ill young man who, for whatever reason, slipped through the net.

One of the first reactions from a family member came from Elliot's aunt, Jenni Rodger who lives in France. 'I don’t know how on earth a sick, disturbed young man was able to get hold of a gun. He was always a disturbed child.'

Richard Martinez, father of one of the boys killed in the attack made an emotional plea, “Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the N.R.A.,” he said. “They talk about gun rights. What about Chris’s right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, ‘Stop this madness; we don’t have to live like this?’ Too many have died. We should say to ourselves: not one more.”

However instead of the media focusing on American gun laws and mental health, another strand has emerged. Much of Elliot's video he titled 'Day of Retribution' shows his deep hatred as well as desire of women, saying, 'On the day of retribution, I am going to enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB [UC Santa Barbara]. And I will slaughter every single spoiled, stuck up blonde slut I see inside there.'

The 137 page manifesto he had written shows his frantic desire to have sex whilst also claiming, 'Females truly have something mentally wrong with them. Their minds are flawed, and at this point in my life I was beginning to see it.'

His sense of sexual entitlement and misogyny was picked up on Twitter where the hashtag #YesAllWomen has been trending since Sunday. Scrolling through the stories linked to the #YesAllWomen hashtag is pretty awful. There are countless anecdotes detailing daily experiences of misogyny, harassment and violence. This hashtag was swiftly followed by #NotAllMen.

Women know that all men are not like Rodger but unfortunately it's impossible to tell who is, so are always on guard in positions we consider vulnerable such as walking to our cars after dark or being invited out on a date by someone we don't know.

This article by Phil Plait shows how insidious the fear is and how important it is that men understand. This issue isn't about men, it's about women. Stop, listen and read what's being written by women everywhere. There are some excellent opinions written on the subject too, like this one 'Not All Men But Still Too Many Men' by Chuck Wendig, a novelist and screenwriter.

There is always a bit of eye rolling at hashtag activism. This is the perfect use of hashtags as every single person in the world is affected by the issue and bringing it to light will serve to encourage empathy and, hopefully, change.

"Here, let me tell you how you should feel about something I've never experienced" - every #notallmen supporter #YesAllWomen

— aleashuhh (@aleashuhh) May 27, 2014

Jenny Rudd spent 6 years as a trader in London before returning to New Zealand in 2007 making the transition from numbers to letters by heading up the content team at MOSH, New Zealand's leading social media agency.

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