5.3
The People vs Turner- Case Study
See appendix 6 for full case study. This
case attracted a huge news coverage
and so began the people vs turner fight.
Twitter was a key credential in this fight.
The hashtag #thingslongerthanbrockturn-
erssentence began. With women across
the world listing things longer than Brock
Turners liement sentence. This hashtag
brought women together and showed
solidarity. It endorsed feminism, espe-
cially within millennials “without actually
stating I am a feminist, a vital part of the
third wave feminist movement” (Ramp-
ton, 2016). Moreover, this hashtag created
public awareness of campus rape culture
and sparked a public stand against rape.
The victim stated “I want the judge to
know that he ignited a tiny fire. If any-
thing, this is a reason for all of us to speak
even louder.” (Baker, 2016). The women
would be correct, just one month later a
leaked video revealed the President elect
at the time, Donald Trump boasting about
grabbing a woman by the “pussy” (Ny-
times.com, 2017). Thus, came the #why-
womendontreport hashtag. This hashtag
urged women to share their experiences
of sexual assault and rape.
This case is so important in emphasising
the power of social media and feminism
as it shows unity and hashtivism (hash-
tags and activism). Social media spreads
awareness of feminism and creates soli-
darity. However, social media comes with
some disadvantages. The #thingslonger-
thanbrockturnerssentence was taken out
of context by some people who began to
make jokes using the hashtag. This kind of
behaviour completely goes against fem-
inism, as rape and sexual assaults effect
so many women around the world it is a
problem that needs to be addressed and
not made light off.