The #MeToo Movement Shapes History

#MeToo

Not many people know this, but activist Tarana Burke began the #MeToo movement in 2006. For most of her activist career, Tarana has worked tirelessly to put an end to sexual violence in the workplace, specifically for women of color. Her efforts have played a huge part in exposing sexism and has increased access to resources for survivors.

“Tarana has a commitment and vision that is bigger than any hashtag or viral moment.” — MeTooMvmt.org

Worldwide Attention

However, the #MeToo Movement did not receive worldwide attention until 2017, when a New York Times article reporting sexual harrassment claims against Harvey Weinstein became public.

The #MeToo Movement went viral on Twitter when Alyssa Milano tweeted:

Milano’s tweet helped the hashtag #MeToo to be tweeted more than 19 million times. In just 24 hours, #MeToo was tweeted more than 500,000 times, and used by more than 4.7 million people on Facebook (Santiago, 2017). People from all over the world started coming together to support each other, listen to each other, and tell their stories.

Change

The hashtag became a virtual community for survivors to share their experiences and spread awareness to end sexual violence. The survivors using this hashtag formed a connection with each other because of a similar experience (Kratka).

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, roughly 75% of individuals do not report sexual harassment at work due to fear of being judged, humiliation, being seen as a victim, and the fear of consequences (Patel, 2018). In my opinion, the #MeToo Movement is one of the strongest social media campaigns I have ever witnessed. Survivors of sexual assault/harrassment finally began speaking up about their experiences with sexual harrassment, and were finally being listened to, believed, and heard.

Sherry Brockway, director of emergency response for the YWCA in Kalamazoo, Michigan says, “I’ve had a lot of clients personally tell me that they’re really glad that this movement came forward because it helped them get their voice out there, which is critical to healing.” (Thompson, 2018).

Critiques

I don’t have much to critique about this movement. There were a lot of positives that came out of this hashtag, as it brought to life a lot of evils of men in power in the workplace, allowed for people to tell their stories and find the support they needed to heal. Additionally, this movement led to a lot of companies changing their policies for sexual harassment claims in the workplace.

People were finally taken seriously, and were no longer afraid to speak out.

References:

Get to Know Us: Tarana Burke, Founder. Me Too. Movement. (2020, July 17). Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://metoomvmt.org/get-to-know-us/tarana-burke-founder/.

Kratka, C. (n.d.). The Silence Breaker: The Power of the #MeToo Community of Sexual Abuse Activism. Rutgers. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://sites.rutgers.edu/nb-senior-exhibits/wp-content/uploads/sites/442/2020/09/Kratka_MeTooandSexualAbuseActivism.pdf.

Patel, M. (2018, October 30). Workplace Harassment: Why Women Don’t Speak Up. Forbes. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2018/10/30/workplace-harassment-why-women-dont-speak-up/?sh=38bf4fe434b3.

Santiago, C. (2017, October 17). An activist, a little girl and the heartbreaking origin of ‘Me too.’ CNN. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/us/me-too-tarana-burke-origin-trnd/index.html.

Thompson, F. (2018, November 15). #metoo: How a movement changed a Community. WWMT. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://wwmt.com/news/local/metoo-how-a-movement-changed-a-community.