I was really affected by the most recent shooting spree near Santa Barbara. The first coverage I saw of the tragedy was that wildly powerful speech given by the devastated father of a victim. The second thing I saw was the original YouTube video that the killer posted (now removed). It was all so chilling, again. It gets more and more chilling every time.

I could go on and one about my feelings around gun control or the obviously dangerous lack of it in this country, but this isn’t my place for that kind of conversation (though I have been thinking more and more about how to get involved in the most worthy fight). Instead I want to talk about the #YesAllWomen campaign that grew out of these horrific events. I think TIME Magazine does a better job that I can of explaining what #YesAllWomen mean and sharing some of the best tweets on the matter.

Simply:

“The suspect in Friday’s killings in Santa Barbara, Calif. wrote a manifesto promising revenge on all the women who had rejected him. But Twitter users responded with their own thoughts on and experiences of misogyny, centered around the hashtag #YesAllWomen”

I want to be very clear in case there’s any confusion that these tweets and thoughts are not suggesting seven people are dead because of misogyny. 

We can attribute what happened in California last week to many, many things: a mentally ill man, a police department error, loose gun control laws and a culture in which misogyny is supported. It is not because of movies, TV shoes, bro-culture and more that seven people are dead just like it’s not because of violent video games or Batman movie, but I do agree that it’s worth a hashtag and much, much more. 

This isn’t a one-part problem, and it doesn’t have a one-part solution. So to the people on the Internet rejecting the #YesAllWomen cry, shame on you. We’ve become too resigned to, “this is a complicated issue,” and “there isn’t one way to look at this thing.” Yes it’s complicated and yes there are many angles, so let’s find them all, raise them all, and solve them all. 

Misogyny is a problem. It’s a problem when it can be connected to murder in any way, shape or form, but it’s a problem when it happens in dorm rooms, bars, work places and public spaces around the world. These tweets make the problem beautifully and impressively clear. As my favorite one among the set goes:

#yesallwomen because even this hashtag is being infiltrated by men trying to invalidate women’s experiences

I am deeply sad about this most recent shooting, but I the speed of the #YesAllWomen response gives me hope and makes me proud. That’s why I’m passing it along today. I hope you’ll do the same.