Indian media site Mintified launched a campaign called #BlameOneNotAll, focusing on how women shouldn't blame all men for the thousands of crimes women all over the world are subjected to every day.
"We do agree that a woman has to go through a lot. The leering, the catcalls, the groping, the societal othering, the miasma of all this that women bear the brunt of every damn day. Every single day is a war to them," Mintified wrote on Facebook.
"But generalising the other gender is not right. Not all men are rapists. Not all men abuse their significant others. Not all men actively oppress women. And these posters say it all," they wrote.
The comments on Mintified's Facebook page have been largely positive.
However, as the campaign went viral, many people were outraged by the campaign's content, believing that it sent a dangerous message.
#BlameOneNotAll Not raping women is easy. You don't get a trophy for it.
#BlameOneNotAll because dealing w/ patriarchy one individual man at a time is a viable, sensible strategy and women definitely have the time
Sorry, but the only way I can guarantee my safety is to be suspicious of all men. My life's more important than yr feelings #BlameOneNotAll
"I know women are being harmed and killed by men every day, but let's talk about me & how nice I am first." #BlameOneNotAll
Ladies, it's so important for us to remember to regularly thank the men in our lives who have yet to rape us #BlameOneNotAll #thanksguys
It's also now being actively parodied on Twitter with "not all men" memes, making fun of how the project puts men's feelings ahead of women experiencing abuse.
how have i never seen this before this is perfect #BlameOneNotAll
Some really great memes emerging from this #BlameOneNotAll derailment. This one is my favorite so far:
#BlameOneNotAll because
#BlameOneNotAll
#blameonenotall
Mintified told BuzzFeed that the project was aimed at showcasing good men in India.
The campaign was initiated keeping in mind the Indian scenario. There are a lot of issues women go through on daily basis. Having said that, we can't generalize the other gender. There are certainly good men out there. And the initiative is to support this thought. Also, regarding the controversies that are going on, we just want to clear that we are not at all associated with #NotAllMen.
We also want to add that there was a team involved in the research and this campaign thought came from women themselves.