Wrongly branded as believing that women want to rule the world and dismiss the work of men, feminism has been reported as almost a dirty word. Instead of portraying what is really at the heart of feminism, gender equality, it has been transformed into the portrayal women as power hungry and greedy.
Taylor’s book looks into the reasons behind why women who have been abused, raped, trafficked, assaulted or harassed by men are blamed for their situations
The consequences of this misrepresentation have been seen in the publishing of Dr. Jessica Taylor’s new book: Why Women are Blamed for Everything. As a senior lecturer in forensic and criminal psychology, Taylor’s book looks into the reasons behind why women who have been abused, raped, trafficked, assaulted or harassed by men are blamed for their situations, the Guardian reports.
The book is due to be published on 27thApril, and Taylor has talked on Woman’s Hour about her work. However, since the 17thApril she has received an influx of messages that target her new book. They have been from men’s rights activists, Mgtow (men going their own way) and other movements of similar natures. They have included death threats, rape threats and violent trolling.
On 21stApril, Taylor had to contact the police because the messages got so bad. Somebody remotely accessed her laptop, and “had control of my keyboard and mouse”, she tells the Guardian.
They said that Taylor was “not a real psychologist”, that she was “fat, ugly, disgusting…barren, infertile, will die alone”
The extent of this internet attack was that she was receiving one hundred comments every few minutes. But the comments were not just about her book, but were in fact targeting her as an individual. They said that Taylor was “not a real psychologist”, that she was “fat, ugly, disgusting…barren, infertile, will die alone”. Over two thousand accounts have had to be blocked from her page.
The book was written for “every single woman and girl who has been told that she had to do something differently…. so she isn’t subjected to male violence”.
Taylor founded Victim Focus. This is an international research, teaching and consultancy organisation which tries to challenge the blaming of women as victims who have been subjected to violence or abuse. Her book looks into the research that she has done in line with this organisation. She said that the book was written for “every single woman and girl who has been told that she had to do something differently…. so she isn’t subjected to male violence”.
The response to this upcoming release shows that feminism is being attacked in our society. Taylor is trying to uncover the inequalities in society, and trying to support and act as a voice for those who have been disempowered and violently abused. But the numerous violent messages that she has received shows that there is an objection to this. Whether this is down to a misunderstanding of what feminists are trying to achieve, or whether they are purely intentionally being mysogonistic, whatever their motives, they perhaps only serve to highlight even more how necessary Taylor's book is to change the way that society functions and perceives situations like this.
