As you will all too well know, horrific acts have occurred this week. On 29 July a 17-year-old male walked into a Southport community centre dance class and stabbed a group of girls and their adults. Two girls died at the scene and one later in hospital. Ten other people were injured, eight of which were children.
Southport: a clear attack on women and girls?
They were attending a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class for kids aged 6-12. After the class, they were due to make friendship bracelets – a tradition amongst Swifties, as they trade them at events and shows.
The attack hasn’t been labelled as terror-related yet, but it should be. Taylor Swift’s fan base is young women and girls and her music stands for celebrating who you are and feeling your emotions fully.
This is a clear attack on women and girls, which is no doubt spurred on by the pervasive ideology of hatred against women that has been allowed to persist online.
Later, while the community of Southport and the online community of Taylor Swift fans were grieving, misinformation was spreading rife about the nationality of the attacker.
High-profile far-right Twitter accounts falsely claimed he was a Muslim immigrant and shared images of much older men with fake names to try and disprove he was only 17. Unfortunately many believed this and on 30 July a large group of far-right thugs tore Southport apart, burning police cars and throwing bricks at a mosque.
Similar “protests” have happened and are planned to happen around the country, with a similar march on parliament already happening. These are being called protests to protect kids and “get our country back”.
But let’s call them what they actually are: riots caused by violent thugs who only care about spreading hatred.
Where were the riots when…
Amidst this civil unrest, the real message is being lost. This wasn’t about “immigrants” or Britain being taken over.
This was an attack on little girls who just wanted to fucking dance to Taylor Swift.
Many will say I’m wrong and they’re “just protecting women and girls”, but if that’s the case they’re seriously lapsing on that front.
Where were the riots when a white man tied up and shot three women with a crossbow?
Where were they when police arrested and assaulted women attending a peaceful vigil for Sarah Everard who was raped and murdered by a white police officer?
Where the fuck were they when a white man stabbed a teenage trans girl literally the same day in the same town of Southport?
If the Southport riots were about VAWG, then…
If it’s about protecting women and girls why did none of them stop the men calling a woman “stupid fucking cunt” and trying to assault her whilst she stood bravely and defiantly with a banner which read “One race – human. Hope not hate. Racism not welcome here”.
If it’s about violence against women and girls how come none of them have denounced Brian Spencer (aka brick to the dick guy) who off his fucking tits on rage and god knows what else then went home and by the sounds of it, smacked up his missus?
This guy isn’t the only one in their little hate mob. Thugs were heard chanting “Tommy Tommy Tommy” in support of the far right hate monger Tommy Robinson. Which is ironic considering Robinson himself has defended paedophiles and allowed them to stay in the EDL.
If it’s about violence against women and girls why aren’t these men both online and taking to the streets highlighting just how endemic VAWG is?
- That one woman a week is killed by a current or former partner.
- That one in four women have been sexually assaulted.
- That one in nine girls have experienced sexual assault or abuse.
- That most women and girls who are abused have the horror inflicted on them by a partner or family member.
Where are they when their friends make rape jokes or one of their pals talks about “jail bait” or how a 16-year-old girl is “legal enough”.
Making rich, white men richer
This was never about “protecting kids” it was about using people’s grief and anger to whip up hatred for anyone who is different. It was rich, privileged tossers exploiting the anger of working-class people.
It was the likes of Farage, Robinson, Fox, Anderson, and their ilk seeing working-class people being left destitute by governments and corporations who care more about profit than human lives and knowing they can cash in.
It was classic “nah don’t look at the billionaires who are sat on the biscuit tin while you’ve only got one biscuit. Watch out for that immigrant who’s gonna pinch your biscuit though”.
Of course it wasn’t just men throwing bricks and hurling abuse in Southport. There was more than their fair share of Karen’s there too. But maybe these women need to ask themselves how many of these men they’d feel safe alone with.
Meanwhile, many online are saying men are “justifiably angry” but women have been carrying this fear and anger for as long as we can remember.
Ever since a grown man made a sexual joke at us while we were wearing our school uniform. Every time a man won’t leave us alone in public and we’re too scared that if we tell them to stop they’ll kill us. Every fucking time a woman or girl has been murdered and men say we should ban crossbows and knives, or that we shouldn’t be out late.
Women didn’t respond to Southport by destroying the world
We’ve as a gender experienced so much fucking trauma every single day of our lives since we were little girls.
Yet you don’t see us setting fire to gyms, working men’s clubs, private men’s clubs, golf clubs or wherever the fuck men hang out – oh wait it happens everywhere.
This was never about violence against women and girls because women didn’t respond by burning shit down.
We responded with tears, holding our friends close – both virtually and physically – we raised over £300,000 pounds for the hospital treating the kids and the funerals of those lost. We made friendship bracelets for those poor girls still in hospital and donated to care packages.
Women didn’t respond by destroying the world – because we know that when men control it all, that will never solve anything.
But we’d be perfectly justified in doing so.
Featured image via the Guardian – screengrab
