Conservatives have launched a counterpoint to the #MeToo movement, and it got off to a somewhat ignominious start. #HimToo is primarily concerned with protecting men from false accusations of sexual assault. (Although statistics show those false accusations almost never happen.)
It’s an outgrowth of one conservative defense of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was forced to defend himself against accusations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when they were in high school: If you believe women who claim they’ve been sexually assaulted, it will lead to an epidemic of men being baselessly accused of sexual violence. (Wired noted that the hashtag was hijacked: It was originally a forum for male victims of sexual assault to find support.)
One GOP mother made the movement mega-viral last week, but not in the way she intended. On Oct. 9, she posted a picture of her son, a Navy veteran, posing theatrically in uniform. Her caption read, “This is MY son. He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo.”
As the photo swept the internet, its subject decided to tell the real story. Creating the Twitter account @thatwasmymom, Pieter Hanson wrote, “That was my Mom. Sometimes the people we love do things that hurt us without realizing it. Let’s turn this around. I respect and #BelieveWomen. I never have and never will support #HimToo. I’m a proud Navy vet, Cat Dad and Ally. Also, Twitter, your meme game is on point.”
That was my Mom. Sometimes the people we love do things that hurt us without realizing it. Let’s turn this around. I respect and #BelieveWomen . I never have and never will support #HimToo . I’m a proud Navy vet, Cat Dad and Ally. Also, Twitter, your meme game is on point. pic.twitter.com/yZFkEjyB6L
— Pieter Hanson (@Thatwasmymom) October 9, 2018
Hanson’s plot-twisting tweet got 172,000 likes and 30,000 retweets in a week, landing him on “Good Morning America,” where he talked about the importance of believing sexual-assault survivors.
As for the #HimToo hashtag, it’s largely devoted to parodies of the original post by Pieter Hanson’s mother.
This is my son. He graduated from Harvard, works as a Vice President at a prestigious bank and likes nothing better than relaxing to Phil Collins and Huey Lewis and the news.Due to left wing feminists He cant go on a date alone because of that one time with a chainsaw. #himtoo pic.twitter.com/y5qbRf9lk8
— Jon Farthing (@Jonf1979) October 9, 2018
The founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, said Monday that #HimToo is not worth her time. “You can tell that it’s just hysteria, right? Because on the one hand, they’re like ‘You’re all just political pawns for the liberals and the Democrats,'” she told the New York Times. “There’s a lot of trolling. I don’t want to sound like Pollyanna or something but it affects you, it does. It’s hard to deal with. But also, for every single troll I see, there’s 10 women in the street marching and demanding and organizing, and I would rather just put my energy there. I can’t mount up a defense against #HimToo.”
