This Is Why Men Need To Stop Bringing Up Their Daughters When They Talk About Sexual Assault

In the wake of the Harvery Weinstein news (that he’s a complete monster if you didn’t hear) there’s been a disturbing influx of men saying that sexual assault horrifies them because they “have a daughter.”

It’s understandable, of course. If you have a daughter you obviously wouldn’t want her to be sexually assaulted, or live in a world that protected sexual predators while exploiting her. But also — why is that the reason you care?

Can’t you be horrified by sexual assault because you’re a human being who doesn’t want other human beings to be taken advantage of? Wouldn’t it be cool if you thought women were people before or regardless of you having a daughter? Lots of folks think so.

Twitter has been hard at work pointing out the complete ridiculousness of dudes thinking they suddenly have something to say about rape culture because of their daughters:

Additionally, some have suggested that a much more productive conversation can be had with sons, rather than about daughters.

And combatting the suggestion that having a daughter is the only thing that could humanize women for dads.

All in all, the takeaway is “stop.”

Sexual assault and rape culture won’t be ended by men suddenly wanting to protect their daughters after horrible news about a man comes out. The whole point of rape culture is that we all participate in it unless we’re actively fighting it.

So while it’s nice that you woke up to the fact that women are people, it’s pretty s***y that it only happened now.