Share this page!

Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
Twitter logo
16 Feb, 7 tweets, 3 min read
A woman’s right to be free of rape or sexual assault should not be dependent on her relationship to a man. She should not have to be your daughter/sister/wife/girlfriend in order to be believed or to be free of sexual violence. #BrittanyHiggins
After I beat the fuck out of a man who sexually assaulted me in a club, a club manager asked me what happened and when I told him, he looked at my Beloved and said "Why didn't you let your husband take care of it?" I almost beat him up too feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…
“First of all, he’s not my husband,” I replied. “Also, this is my body, I take care of it.”

Patriarchy enables and protects men who sexually assault women, and it demands that only other men “protect” us. As long as we obey and behave in ways it approves of, of course.
That “protection,” you must remember, is conditional. Because if we disobey, ha!

The reason the "If she was your daughter, etc' argument is dangerous is because it guarantees protection only to the "good" women who "belong" to men.

Fuck that shit.
“How long must we wait so that men stop raping us? What will it take so that men stop murdering us?” That’s why my Qs so upset patriarchal fucks in charge #Australia: They want women’s right to be free of violence to be conditional on belonging to a man.

I don’t want to be protected. I just want patriarchy to stop protecting and enabling men. I want men to stop raping and sexually assaulting us. I don’t want to be protected. I want to be free. feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…
For more of my essays: sign up! feministgiant.com

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Mona Eltahawy

Mona Eltahawy Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @monaeltahawy

Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
16 Feb
cw: violence

"A man has been found not guilty of murdering his wife, just days into the first national Covid lockdown. Anthony Williams, 70, said he "just flipped" and strangled his wife Ruth at their home."

bbc.com/news/uk-wales-…
How long must we wait until men stop beating and murdering us, even under #COVID19? And being found “not guilty?”

I made this in April
🎥 @rerutled

“The legal system is designed to protect men from the superior power of the state but not to protect women or children from the superior power of men,” U.S. feminist psychiatrist Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery, The Aftermath of Violence-From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror Text: “The legal system is designed to protect men from th
Read 12 tweets
Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
15 Feb
There is “no going back to normal.” We must emerge, not regress. I refuse to emerge as if unscathed. I insist that we all be scathed. We will emerge, our hearts unhealed and scarred but awesome. feministgiant.com/p/essay-fallin…
Over the past few months, I've been writing more than I usually do. It's as if all the words i used to use in conversations with others are now, in lockdown, going onto the page. An essay per week for months, sometimes two a week.
cw: sexual assault

Both Falling Apart Like a Feminist & my latest deal with sexual assault & are some of my most personal writing. This new one looks back at times when I was 4yo, 15yo, and 50yo and fuck - our lives shouldn't be marked by sexual violence feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…
Read 5 tweets
Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
15 Feb
That entire family are fucking grifters h/t @mfnmfnmfn
I've been saying that (July 👇🏽)
Also
Read 6 tweets
Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
15 Feb
What would the world look like if girls were taught they were volcanoes, whose eruptions were a thing of beauty, power to behold, force not to be trifled with? What if instead of breaking their wildness like a rancher tames a bronco, we taught girls the power of being dangerous?
"That's what I want--to hear you erupting. You young Mount St. Helenses who don't know the power in you--I want to hear you," Ursula K. Le Guin in a 1998 commencement speech urging young women graduating to erupt! serendipstudio.org/sci_cult/legui… Text: "...when women speak truly they speak subversivel
From a very young age girls around the world are told that they are vulnerable and weak. By the age of 10, research shows they believe it. Conversely, boys are fed the stereotype that they are strong and independent. time.com/4948607/gender…
Read 6 tweets
Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
14 Feb
I wrote this for 4yo me who once waved her slipper at a man who stopped his car on the street under my family’s balcony, pulled his penis out and beckoned for me to come down. I absolutely believed in my rage, convinced that it could frighten away a grown man.
I honour that angry 4yo girl. I honour her belief that she deserved to be free of molestation & of interruption. She was born with a pilot light of anger, tenacious & sure of its right to flare whenever treated unjustly. I believe all girls are born w/that pilot light of anger.
That little girl found me on a dance floor in Montreal three years ago and told me “Beat that fucker up!” and I celebrate her. Today, we are waving our slippers together. 

feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as… #IBeatMyAssaulter
Read 4 tweets
Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
14 Feb
Three years ago today, I was icing my knuckles because I’d beaten the fuck out of a man who had groped me in a club a couple of nights before. I wrote about it in my new essay feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as… 📷 @rerutled #IBeatMyAssaulter Mona’s hand in a bowl of ice. Her forearm can be seen with
After I explained to a club manager what had happened, he ooked at my Beloved and asked me “Why didn’t you let your husband take care of it?” I almost beat him up too.

“First of all, he’s not my husband. Also, this is my body, I take care of it.” feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…
Patriarchy enables and protects men who sexually assault women, and it demands that only other men “protect” us.

As long as we obey and behave in ways it approves of, of course. Protection is conditional.Because if we disobey, ha! I don't want to be protected. I want to be free
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @monaeltahawy has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @monaeltahawy!

Read all threads by @monaeltahawy