Thread by @monaeltahawy

cw: sexual asssault.

Four years ago this week, I beat up a man who groped me in a club. It was fucking glorious. And I started #IBeatMyAssaulter.

Celebrate that anniversary with me! feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…

I chased him down, sat on him and punched and punched and punched. I wanted him to know that next time he thought he could assault a woman, she too could beat the fuck out of him.

My hand was bruised, I had to ice it the next day--it was worth it. #IBeatMyAssaulter 📷 @rerutled

B loved @rerutled & I then went to the bar to get some water and a club manager actually asked me "Why didn't you let your husband take care of it?"

I almost beat him up too. I don't want to be protected. I want patriarchy to stop protecting cis men's violence #IBeatMyAssaulter

Here's my thread from that night

https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/962237871494189062?s=20&t=Odq9OYTmE8hJAhJcJzxZeQ

#IBeatMyAssaulter

Here's @rerutled's thread from that night. Note that he did not intervene because he saw that I had it under control.

https://twitter.com/rerutled/status/962238292715487233?s=20&t=o2HfG0HLqqhG2hK3ji7Ybw

#IBeatMyAssaulter

I don’t want to be protected. I want to be free of violence. I want patriarchy to stop enabling and protecting cis men’s violence.

From April 2020 🎥 @rerutled

#IBeatMyAssaulter

Please read the whole essay before you ask me things like "Don't you think you overreacted, etc blah etc."

And sign up for my essays here. My newsletter is free. If you can pay, it helps to keep it free.

feministgiant.com/p/coming-soon?…

I always repeat the club manager's "Why didn't you let your husband take care of it?" because it's reminder that our bodies don't belong to us.

Patriarchy enables men who assault us and patriarchy allows only "our" men to defend us. #IBeatMyAssaulter feministgiant.com/p/i-beat-my-as…

And woe is the woman who dares to think she can fight back. Many do, and they are punished more severely for fighting back than are the men who beat or assault them.

Prisons around the world are full of women who fight back and the streets are full of the men who assaulted them

I know that we can’t always fight back. My priority is to survive. I never want what I have shared here to make anyone feel guilty for not beating up her assaulter.

I also know that we are not socialized to fight back.

Cis men are not socialized to expect us to fight back.