#WomenAreTrash Trending on Twitter and Some People are Celebrating
Dec. 25 2019, Updated 9:58 a.m. ET
Usually we wake up and open Twitter and see a variety of hashtags have started trending overnight. Usually it's some pop culture reference, like an artist dropping a new album or a highly anticipated movie came out. Sometimes they're a little more political, especially in today's day and age. Other times the hashtag is more vicious, more controversial. So if you're wondering why you woke up and saw #WomenAreTrash trending today, here's the heartbreaking reason behind the hashtag.
The meaning behind the hashtag claiming women are trash was painful from the start.
Although other Twitter users have tacked onto the trend and listed other ways why they think women are trash, the hashtag was started from one incident. A tweet claiming that a woman named Tshego drugged her grandmother in order to go out to party. The tweet also included a video of a spoonful of white powder being dropped into what looks like tea.
A follow up tweet clarified further who Tshego was as an 18 year old girl who also cheated on the son of DJ Tira. But the story alone was barely enough to get the hashtag going. The story spurred the #WomenAreTrash hashtag, but it didn't get traction until more men began tacking on stories and celebrated the hashtag. When women began tweeting out anger over the hashtag, more men began making jokes about the situation and complained about "feminists" trying to co-op the message.
The celebration stemmed from what some believed was a double standard. Those that took up the phrase believed that it was a response to the claim that men are trash and that women have long used that phrase without any comeuppance for it.
Overwhelming, the hashtag was co-oped, both by men and women.
Those who tweeted out the hashtag in negativity were overwhelmingly outnumbered. In a short time, the phrase continued trending but the messages that were seen were very different from what it was like at the start. Instead, men and women began tweeting out their disappointment in the trend happening in the first place.
Many men denounced the message and attempted to change the narrative to share a more equal message. Although sometimes that message was positive, like that they acknowledge that women don't deserve to be called such a thing. Other times it was not so positive, with some claiming that it wasn't right to specify that women are trash because everyone is trash. For some time, #MenAreTrash began trending as well, which started a larger discussion. Is it ever alright to call an entire gender trash?
Considering that it's Twitter and Twitter inherently is a place full of controversy and back and forth, the argument signifies just one of many that's happening on the site at any moment in time. But seeing so many argue based on gender lines shows that a deeper division, one that flares up and manifests in accusations. It's nearly 2020 and today both #WomenAreTrash and #MenAreTrash trended.
