The Rise of Hate Speech Aimed at Libyan Women

A book entitled "Sunlight on shuttered windows" caused outrage on all over social media for its inappropriate content. This book is a collaboration of 25 female and male writers. It has given the chance to so many Libyan youths to make their dream a reality.

The writers' reality soon turned into a nightmare when one of the 25 writers wrote content filled with inappropriate terms, it was filled with sexual suggestions in a very sickening way. However, it may have revealed what so many men think of sexuality and the written result, in my opinion, was disgusting and shameful. The writer's words are a reflection of his own thoughts only. He's the only one to blame and those who had the authority to add his work among others.

What caught my attention was people's reaction to it. In Libya, there is a very small number of people who actually read books. Once pictures of the inappropriate text were released, people went insane. They claimed to be critics when, in fact, Libyans are not known for reading whatsoever. They didn't focus on the writer but they included other writers, especially, female writers. Some accounts on social media harassed women who appeared in photos of the books' signing event. They are not related to the writer and have no influence on his opinion. It made me furious and I was fed up with the direct attack on women as if they should be blamed for everything.

Unfortunately, some people don't take other people's feelings into consideration. They don't think of the amount of pain they would cause as a result. As long as there are women then whatever that is, it is a complete failure. The result of the outrage turned into a direct hate speech towards every woman who participated in that book. Do you know how do they feel? Do you know how would it reflect on them? Pick your words wisely.  

I strongly believe that the writer's shameful content shouldn't represent the entire work. Everything he wrote in that text had nothing to do with literature. The other 24 writers had put their efforts to come up with the best individual content. They aimed to deliver a meaningful message. People must learn to see the complete picture and act upon it. They must stop blaming women.