'Your body, my choice': Spike in far-right rhetoric post-election

‘Your body, my choice’: 4,600% spike in comments promoting gendered violence post-election

Millions of people on social media are engaging content from far-right “manosphere” influencers using misogynistic, violent language, including the trending phase “your body, my choice”.

Analysis from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found a particular spike in such rhetoric in the immediate aftermath of the US election, where Donald Trump convincingly won against Vice President Kamala Harris.

In the 24 hours after the election was called in Trump’s favour, there was a 4,600 per cent increase in posts on X that used the terms “your body, my choice”, a subversion of the pro-abortion phrase “my body, my choice”.

Facebook also experienced an increase in the anti-abortion phrase: 24 hours after the election, there were 52,000 posts that read “your body, my choice”.

The ISD also found spikes in social media posts that included the phrase “get back in the kitchen”, or “repeal the 19th amendment”, a law that granted women the right to vote in 1919.

Volume of mentions of the phrases “repeal the 19th”, “your body my choice”, and several variations telling women to “get back to the kitchen.” Platforms include X, forums, blogs, Reddit and YouTube from Oct 1, 2024 – Nov 6, 2024. Source: ISD

In an article for the ISD, researchers Isabelle Frances-Wright and Moustafa Ayad said what is happening online is “more than just a continuation of misogynist trends” seen pre-election.

“As an emboldened group of ‘manosphere’ influencers, extremist ideologues and politicians exploit Donald Trump’s election as a rebuke of both reproductive rights and women’s rights, the impact on women could extend into the next presidential election and beyond,” the researchers wrote.

The trending phrase “your body, my choice” is thought to have come from Nicholas J Fuentes, a far-right white supremecist, political pundit and livestreamer. On November 6, Fuentes wrote on X: “Your body, my choice. Forever.” The post received more than 94 million views.

Audio from one of Fuentes’ livestreams has gone viral on TikTok, mostly from women reacting to his horrifying words.

Sadly, women sharing their grief over the election results or speaking out against anti-abortion rhetoric are being met with a barrage of men commenting on their videos “your body, my choice”.

As the ISD reports, one TikTok creator said: “I had to delete a video because I was being threatened and several men commenting [sic] saying they couldn’t wait until I get raped or ‘your body my choice.’”

Other “manosphere” influencers have weighed in on the election results, especially in the wake of women joining the 4B movement – heterosexual women refusing to marry, have children, engage in romance, or participate in sexual relationships with men.

Andrew Tate has made several posts mocking women who are joining the movement, with millions of people viewing and resharing his derogatory posts.

Jon Miller, a former journalist for conservative media outlet TheBlaze, wrote on X: “women threatening sex strikes like LMAO as if you have a say.” So far, the post has received more than 85 million views.

Far-right, extremist rhetoric is seeping into schools, parroted by school-aged children. Posting a video on TikTok, one woman, with the TikTok handle @jpaw1978, heard from her son that kids in his school have been using racist language, harassing girls and saying the phrase “your body, my choice”.

“These are sixth, seventh and eighth graders,” the woman in the video said.

“Elections have consequences, people…This is just the beginning. It’s gonna get worse.”

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