The shooting spree in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Friday–and suspect Elliot Rodger’s manifesto against women that appears to have been behind it–prompted an online conversation critiquing the beliefs society instills in men about women.
But alongside the #YesAllWomen hashtag cropped up another one–#YesAllBiblicalWomen–as people began imagining the way the women of the Bible would contribute to the #YesAllWomen conversation if they could speak today.
Feminist Jewish and Christian theology is a relatively new development in each faith’s history, and many of the women in the Bible, as these tweets suggest, experienced consequences of male entitlement. Here’s a selection of the #YesAllBiblicalWomen tweets, each sharing a Biblical woman’s story, from @AllBibleWomen and others:
Sarah: because my husband thought pimping me out was better than other men killing him to take me. #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
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Hagar: Because you think you own me, use my body without my say, and when I finally gain my voice, you set me loose to die #yesallwomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 26, 2014
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Syro-phonecian woman: Because even Jesus calls me a bitch. #YesAllWomen #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 26, 2014
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Bathsheba: Because I can’t bathe without being leered at. #YesAllWomen #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 26, 2014
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Mary, Mother of Jesus: Because being pregnant while unattached to a man is so dangerous I had to run away to my cousin’s house #YesAllWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
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Mary: Because the guys get confused by a few women with the same name #YesAllWomen #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
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Hannah: because when I pray differently than you, you judge me and say I must be a drunk. #YesAllWomen #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
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Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch: Bc we, and our beauty, are only recorded to show how lucky our Dad was #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
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.@AllBibleWomen Bilhah & Zilpah: because we gave birth to 4 of the 12 tribes and most don't know our names. #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— (Full) Professor Wil Gafney (@WilGafney) May 27, 2014
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#YesAllBiblicalWomen because who do you think cooked for and looked after Jesus & disciples while they traipsed around Palestine?
— JoelleColvilleHanson (@PastorJoelle) May 27, 2014
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Because the church tells women to follow rules while the Bible celebrates women who break them #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— Hillary Haden (@_thewanderunner) May 27, 2014
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To the unnamed women who are offered up by men to be gang raped so that other men won't harm their guests. #YesAllBiblicalWomen
— Andre E. Johnson (@aejohnsonphd) May 27, 2014
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