What do you do when you post a series of seriously misguided tweets about women’s bodies that go viral, leading people all over the world to know you only as “the meninist tampon guy?”
You backpedal and try to convince everyone it was all a hoax. Obviously.
That’s exactly what 19-year-old Ryan Williams has done in the wake of an international media frenzy.
Williams rose to infamy last month with tweets suggesting he wholeheartedly believes a) periods come from women’s bladders, and b) having your period is the same as weeing yourself.
His logic was bizarre to the point it clearly wasn’t a joke.
No one is that clever. No one.
But now, in an interview with The Tab, Williams says, “I wanted to tell you the truth about my tweets and that.”
“It was a hoax.”
Williams might just be convincing if he wasn't so entirely clueless.
Apparently he "wanted to raise awareness for feminism and about the tampon tax."
THANK YOU, SIR. YOU DID SUCH A GOOD JOB.
"I wanted to take away some of the taboo and get people talking about it because people haven’t been talking about it in a good few months," he told journalist Roisin Lanigan.
In his initial interviews, Williams reportedly scoffed when he was told women bled from their vagina, and not their bladder. But, according to the student, it was all an act.
"I read an article on women free bleeding outside parliament," he said. "I knew how to go viral, I have friends who have followers who can retweet my stuff."
The interview became tricky, however, when Williams was asked for some basic details on menstruation.
"Um, well women go through the menstrual cycle. Menstrual blood flows through the small opening," he said.
Riiight.
"The small opening? What’s that called?" asked Lanigan, wanting to know once and for all whether Williams had learnt the difference between a bladder and a vagina.
"What, sorry?" he said, biding his time. "I’m not aware what that’s called."
According to his interviewer, he was silent for a long time, before saying, "What do you mean what it’s called? The v-a-g-i-n-a, yeah? I prefer to use medical terms, I’m not trying to be graphic."
Oh, and of course, the whole girlfriend-breaking-up-with-him-thing was a hoax too. This guy is a GENIUS.
When asked why this girl played along with it all, Williams said, "Well, er, she knows how social media works so, um. She feels as strongly about it since, er, reading that article about um, the things women are going through. She totally agrees so um, yeah."
I literally could not be more convinced if I tried.
You see, Williams was really just trying to do a good thing. And this was the only way to get his "message" across (although it's currently unclear what his message is).
"Nobody would have listened to a 19 -year-old student if I hadn’t said something outrageous", he said.
"This is a better angle to get attention rather than free bleeding and degrading yourself outside parliament and in the street."
Lanigan (my new favourite journalist) then asked, "So do you think the things you said about women are less degrading than having to free bleed?"
At this point, Williams reportedly went silent.
He then said a few sentences comprised of words like "social media," "viral" and "awareness" before explaining that he really was very busy and should probably go.
But when Lanigan explained that she needed more details or the whole 'hoax-angle' story wouldn't be published, he suddenly wasn't that busy anymore.
He explained he's currently working on a documentary about how he went viral, and he's interested in TV work.
Ultimately, Lanigan was not at all convinced that Williams' bizarre social media behaviour was a hoax, and neither are we.