"Witch Hunts" and Fragile Masculinity

In recent years especially, the United States has seen adverse reactions from men (especially white men) who were called out for hostile behavior as part of movements like #MeToo. Because these men are used to the world that benefits and shields them from criticism being something they consider objective, their reactions to what they consider 'baseless accusations' often invoke rhetoric of an attempt to convince society through word of mouth alone to harm a single person. This is often identified as a 'witch hunt' which ignores the fact that the term has a very loaded and gendered history and is rooted in misogyny and actual physical harm that came to women and non-conformers. Because of this, the rhetoric used is blatantly careless and ignorant to history, in that it compares a white man's reputation to the livelihood of others throughout history. The tweet below phrases this idea succinctly, adding in opposition to white men using the rhetoric of "lynch mobs" as well. (strong language warning)