Generally speaking, the foremost expert on any piece of work is the person who created it.
That is, unless, you're "some random guy" on Twitter.
Then obviously you're the expert.
Yup, sarcasm.
Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, came up against her very own "some random guy" just a few short days ago. For those who have not read her work or seen Hulu's take on it, The Handmaid's Tale chronicles a dystopian United States where religion has taken over and forced reproduction is par for the course.
Women are routinely kidnapped, raped, beaten, forced into reproductive servitude, etc... all in the name of religion.
When Ms. Atwood wrote it, she didn't imagine that it would become as horrifyingly accurate as it has. Women are being criminally tried for miscarriages.
Total abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest are being pushed. Lawmakers with no understanding of how the body works are trying to force medical procedures that don't exist and are likely to kill the mother. Pregnant women are being referred to as "host bodies."
Here we are, staring down the barrel of Gilead.
Which, in case you were wondering, is not a good thing.
Through this all, Margaret Atwood has been outspoken about how terrifyingly wrong things are going, particularly because the parallels to her work of horror-fiction have become undeniable. A few days ago she shared an article about Marshae Jones.
Marshae was shot in the abdomen during an argument when she was five months pregnant. The shooter was let go without any charges, but Marshae—the shooting victim—was charged in the death of her unborn child.
Police and lawmakers in Alabama stated that Marshae alone, not the person who pulled the trigger and shot her, was responsible for the fetal demise. After massive public outcry the charges were dropped.
But imagine if social media and activism hadn't managed to intervene.
Worldwide there are countless women currently jailed for miscarriages. Marshae Jones narrowly missed being one of them. Margaret Atwood, like many others, sees the warning signs clearly.
Here is her tweet:
Enter random guy—who we would like to think is just trolling, but honestly does that make this better or worse?—we aren't sure.
Either way, he decided to poke at Atwood's tweet with this gem:
Normally, after a tweet this asinine we would include a reaction GIF.
No need this time, though.
Twitter did it for us.
Repeatedly.
GIFs weren't Twitter's only response, though.
Things got interesting in the comments section as people tried to explain where his tweet went so off the rails and were met with his utter confusion. Then, in what people assume is an attempt to gain more followers, he started retweeting literally anything he was tagged in.
We aren't sure he grasps how Twitter works—or how trolling works, for that matter.
So, listen, if you're going to troll—do better.
There was a time in ye olde glory days of internet when trolling required some intellect and wit. If you're going to mansplain; don't. If you're going to mansplain and then try to CYA by attempting to turn it into trolling, then extra super don't.
It's not a good look for anyone.
Margaret Atwood's bestseller, The Handmaid's Tale, is available here. You can also get the book as a graphic novel, available here. Or learn about it here.
Atwood's new book, The Testaments, can be pre-ordered here.
"In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades. When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison or death. With The Testaments, the wait is over."