This post originally appeared on Reductress.com.
Many women have been taking to social media to share their experiences of harassment this week, but few women take the time before posting to consider, "Am I alienating men?"
These tips can help you to create a man-friendly post that addresses your feelings and experiences about rape, harassment, feminism, and women's safety, while letting the men know that you're not holding them personally accountable, still think most men are great, and believe they too deserve rights.
1. Immediately follow with #NotAllMen.
You can't use this hashtag enough. Use it to make sure that the sensitive men in your life don't feel personally implicated when you address the harassment of women. It doesn't help anyone to force those men to reflect on their past interactions with women, so when you reference #YesAllWomen, make sure it's clear that you are referring to only that small handful of men who the over one million Twitter posts are referring to.
2. Mention that "I am in favor of respect and equality for EVERYONE, men and women."
This is a phrase you'll want to reiterate. If you aren't explicit about it, how will anyone know that you DON'T want to strip away the rights of every man and boy until we create an oppressive matriarchy bent on creating a new world order where men are treated like vermin and only released from their jail cells to mate? If you don't highlight your focus on men's equality, people could easily jump to conclusions.
3. Consider including a selfie.
Flattering selfies are a great opportunity to show that you aren't some angry Feminazi who hates men. Rather you are perfectly happy to appeal to their innocent urge to objectify you in a respectful way. A selfie of your lovely smiling face will take the sting out of any potential hurt feelings over your personal accounts of harassment!
4. Follow up with some Pro-Man tweets.
No matter how carefully you word your post, it's always possible that your declaration of support for the victims of harassment might have been misconstrued as a harpy's battle cry in the war against men, so it's a good idea to post some pro-man tweets, thanking them for their good and honorable behavior. Every time the men in your life do something that is not actively harassing you, it's cause for applause! Use social media to praise the sensitive men that you are lucky to have in your life!
Above all, remember: men are sensitive and deserve to be protected from anything potentially insulting or threatening. The thought that they could have done anything differently to ease the daily harassment that women face is very painful to them, and should not factor into the #YesAllWomen discussion.
To read more, click here or visit Reductress.com.