We all have heard, seen, or read about the #MeToo phenomenon, so this article involves a more detailed presentation on the causes and effects of this worldwide movement.
Possibly the most known and widespread feminist social movement, #MeToo is fighting against sexual abuse and sexual harassment, and the phrase “Me Too” was initially used in this context by Tarana Burke, a sexual harassment survivor, and activist, in 2006 on social media. “There is strength in numbers” applies in this case as well by empowering women and visibly demonstrating how many of them have survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
As mentioned before, Tarana Burke used this phrase on her Myspace account to promote "empowerment through empathy" among women of color who have been sexually abused. As a child and as a teenager, she was both harassed and raped, so her mother encouraged her to tell her story and make her voice heard so other young women can overcome their own traumatic experiences. Burke, who is creating a documentary titled Me Too, has said she was inspired to use the phrase after being unable to respond to a 13-year-old girl who confided to her that she had been sexually assaulted. Burke said she later wished she had simply told the girl: "Me too". As we all know, some Hollywood stars were exposed through this phenomenon, precisely Harvey Weinstein, an American former film producer. The first woman who reported being sexually harassed by Weinstein is the Italian model Ambra Gutierrez, who cooperated with NYPD to obtain an audio recording in which Weinstein admitted to having inappropriately touched her. As the police investigations became public, tabloids put Ambra in the position of the opportunist, blaming her for wanting to gain publicity and the authority decided not to file charges against Weinstein, citing insufficient evidence of criminal intent. After more women claiming to have been assaulted by Harvey, he was charged with "rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for incidents involving two separate women" on May 25, 2018. He was arrested the same day after surrendering to the NYPD.
Following the widespread exposure of Harvey Weinstein's allegations of predatory behavior, actress Alyssa Milano wrote in her blog post: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted, write 'Me too' as a reply to this tweet.", encouraging the spread of the phrase "Me Too" and also identifying herself with the movement, having experienced sexual harassment at a concert when she was 19 years old.
As we all know, from here the movement exploded quickly and celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman, among others, soon followed.
The impact was huge on social media, but also areas from education to church and military. For example, in February 2019 actress Emma Thompson wrote a letter to an American production company, explaining that she had pulled out of the production of the animated film “Luck” the month prior because of the company's decision to hire John Lasseter, who had been accused of harassing women while working at Disney. Among others, Thompson stated: "If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he's not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract that he must behave 'professionally'?".
The 2019 rerelease of Toy Story 2 had a blooper scene during the credits removed due to sexual misconduct concerns.
#ChurchToo went viral in January 2018 in response to a live-streamed video made by Pastor Andy Savage saying he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl as a youth pastor while driving her home twenty years before but then received applause from his church for admitting the incident and asking for forgiveness.
Women from the music industry also joined the movement and singer-songwriter Halsey wrote a poem, "A Story Like Mine", which she delivered at a 2018 Women's March in New York City. The poem describes incidents of sexual assault and violence throughout her life.
In education, a landmark event happened at The University of California, which has had substantial accusations of sexual harassment reported on all nine UC campuses. In early July 2018, UC Irvine removed millionaire benefactor Francisco J. Ayala's name from its biology school, central science library, graduate fellowships, scholar programs, and endowed chairs after an internal investigation substantiated several sexual harassment claims.
Of course, the impact is ampler, many men were fired from their jobs and others even got the courage to share their own stories through #HimToo, but unfortunately, sexual assaults are still happening everywhere around us, some of them well covered by powerful men like Harvey Weinstein. But most important is to inform ourselves, learn from other’s experiences, and above all, help the victims and fight all kinds of assaults.
Editor
Stefania Verdeata
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