I know getting a Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing seems beyond ridiculous, but Barack Obama got one just for being elected President of the United States and he's not exactly renown for his commitment to peace what with the whole drones bombing civilian populations issue that keeps raising its ugly head.
So, if Obama gets one just for being elected and the #BlameOneNotAll "campaign" claims men deserve to thanked just for not raping women, I want one for not kicking random men in the goolies on a daily basis. It seems only fair that I, having never committed an act of violence against a person, should get something more substantial than getting paid 70 % of what men do for equal work and being loaded with all the unpaid caring work to boot.
I've not had so much as a cookie since nursery school as payment for not being naughty. Never mind a whole 'campaign' dedicated to thanking me for not committing mass violence.
Rather than spending the next 40 years holding ticker tape parades and award ceremonies for every single woman who did not commit an act of violence in the last 24 hours, we could just point out the #BlameOneNotAll campaign, created by media company Mintified, is just another pile of misogynistic drivel. Despite claims to the contrary, it's not even a 'campaign' to promote feminism or equality. Mintified is just another content aggregator site and #BlameOneNotAll is just clickbait.
Clickbait I would normally ignore if it weren't the fact that a whole lot of people have assumed it's meant to be an actual feminist campaign and that men who don't rape should be thanked by women for not raping them. Why men aren't more upset at good man = not a rapist is beyond me. As with the tag 'good father' given to men who kill their children, I would have thought more men would be angry at such a denigrating construction of masculinity. Instead, I've seen a whole lot of men whining on twitter about not being given stickers for not engaging in criminal activity.
One man, in particular, went as far as to claim that men rape because women don't thank them in advance for not raping them. I may try robbing a bank and blaming it for not thanking me in advance. Just to see.
For those who missed the memo, feminism isn't about 'equality'. It's about the liberation of women and girls from male violence. After all, the Equal Pay Act has been in effect for more than 30 years and white women are still paid 70% of what men make. BME women are worse off getting only 60% of what white men earn. The Tory policy of austerity disproportionately affects women - forcing more women and children into poverty. The UK doesn't even recognise the failure to financially support children as child abuse despite this being the single biggest reason that children live in poverty. Equality before the law is irrelevant when those laws aren't enforced.
We live in a white supremacist, capitalist-patriarchy where the oppression of women is embedded in law, religion, culture and economic policy. Any campaign to end male violence which ignores the structural issues is pointless. Men make the choice to commit violence and suggesting that women are responsible for men's choices is victim blaming. It's the same old misogynistic twaddle wearing a shiny new sweater.
As stupid as #BlameOneNotAll is, it has achieved a spectacular own goal. What it really demonstrates is the ubiquity of male violence against women and girls - there would be no need for posters congratulating uncles on not molesting their nieces if it wasn't an everyday occurrence perpetrated by millions of men.
The statistics don't lie: 1 women in 3 experience domestic violence during their lifetime and 2 women a week are killed by current of former male partners. Violence against women is systemic misogyny with the sole purpose of controlling women's labour and life. Women live with street harassment, objectification, victim blaming and all other forms of male violence every single day. Because men, individually and as a class, make a choice to perpetuate misogyny and a toxic hyper-masculinity.
#BlameOneNotAll shows just how few 'good' men there really are: the ones who recognise rape culture and hold other men accountable for abusive behaviour.
And, really, if you're the kind of man who thinks you deserve a cookie for not committing rape, you're the problem. You are a misogynist and no amount of happy-clappy signs "thanking" you for not assaulting your children isn't going to change that.