Why Twitter’s #HimToo Mother-and-Son Saga Was a Satisfying Social Media Moment

Author: Heather Schwedel / Source: Slate Magazine

It was a social media saga that took the form of a three-act play: First a mother’s politicized Twitter post about her son, featuring a picture of him posed ridiculously and her complaints about his lack of dating life due to “the current climate of false sexual accusations,” went viral.

Soon it inspired a wave of parodies: people posting about their “sons’ ” problems in the “current climate.” (

Twitter

) Then the actual son at the center of it all spoke up to clarify that he had no idea what his mom was talking about. What a weird confluence of events involving a bunch of people we had never heard of until 5 seconds ago!

The original post, since deleted along with the account that posted it, read as follows: “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.” The indignant tone was accompanied by a picture of a young man in a Navy uniform, posing theatrically with one leg up on a bench and his chin resting on a fist.

That the post would get pilloried was all too predictable: Here was an apparent…

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