A poster stating that all men should die caused dismay, but the disgusting threats that came afterwards made it understandable
When a student named Michelle held her “All Men Should Die” poster at the GBV protest at the University of the Free State, I’m sure the necrophiliacs were thrilled. The rest of the population may have raised an eyebrow at the suggestion and some may have felt angered at more than just the Game of Thrones misquote.
As a man, I’d be keen to help end GBV but the reality is that I’d have to be alive to do anything about it. Wishing me dead may be a passive help were I a promoter of GBV, though if we’re going to that extent of killing a gender to end GBV, we could just as well rid ourselves of all but one race to end racism. It doesn’t seem like a moral nor effective method of resolving the problem.
And the problem is indeed a big one. It’s understandable why women are collectively at this level of anger. Being in South Africa is dangerous and though the murder rate is proportionally higher for men than women when compared to the rest of the world, it’s not just murder that’s the problem.
The problem involves many forms of violence and if the help of men is sought, perhaps calling for their deaths is not the way to go.
There have been several aspiring panel beating contortionists proposing forms of justifications such as men will be angry at this but not when women are really killed; if you interpret it properly, men can’t feel threatened by it; and my favourite, that this is important advocacy.
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The petition of more than 15 000 signatures to keep her educational pursuits from risk is still gaining traction despite the UFS claiming that she’s not a student of theirs but a more recent interview has indicated differently.
I was pretty perplexed by the manner Michelle was going about things. Surely, she doesn’t want me to die? I’ve done nothing to her and she doesn’t even know me. How would she know what my interactions with women have been and be so confident that they warrant my death? I thought it was a silly position to take and made me feel less inclined to help the cause. After all, why support a cause that calls for my own death?
And then the vitriol came out; the disgusting threats by men threatening rape and death, and those who felt artistically evil went as far as threatening death by rape, with a smile.
People have weaponised many things but the threat of sexual assault is so vile that I can come to understand the sentiment of all men should die. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s smart and I still feel that it pushes men away from wanting to help. But I understand the state of desperation and where it comes from.
We live in a world where women can get such intense threats, be attacked, even assaulted and have nowhere to turn, even in the situations where they know their assailants.
I hope it doesn’t come across as patronising when I say that it’s understandable that so many women feel helpless against GBV. I still don’t think it’s justifiable for all men to die, but it is understandable.
Should all men die? Certainly not. I think that even Michelle would agree with that and in a way, subsequently, has. She explained that it was a provocative poster, not a literal one. It, however, does seem silly to leave the interpretation of the non-violent intention behind a violent statement to a bunch of people you’re accusing of violence.
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Should we call men out for weaponising sexual assault and turning it into threats to shut women up? Absolutely! Should we do something about the way many men treat or even perceive women? Totally. Should all men die? No, and it’s still not enticing to help a cause that calls for your own death.
That being said, it’s not just supporting the cause to call men out on this kind of behaviour. It’s calling on men to be better than abhorrent assailants. It’s a low bar but so many men haven’t passed it. That’s frightening and something we should be ashamed of to the extent that we have serious interventions to fix it. It’s a pity that being alive is a prerequisite to doing that.
