"#MeToo": The Story Behind the Hashtag
In the past few days, you may have seen tweets, Instagram posts, or Facebook statuses with the hashtag "#MeToo". After seeing more than one of these hashtags, I was curious, so I looked into the trend. What I found was both disturbing and empowering.
#MeToo is a social media campaign that originated with actress Alyssa Milano. Milano took to Twitter on Sunday to stand in solidarity with Rose McGowan, who was temporarily suspended from the platform after publicly accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. Friends of McGowan started "WomenBoycottTwitter" to show their support, but Alyssa Milano had a different approach. She started #MeToo as a social experiment-- to show the world just how many people have ever been sexually assaulted.
In the past two days, social media has been flooded with responses from people all over the country--some simply shared the hashtag while others shared their personal experience with sexual assault. While I knew that the statistics of sexual assault--especially as a college student-- were high, I didn't realize the magnitude of it until I saw friends on mine sharing their stories on social media as well.
What disturbed me is a common theme I read in many stories: that they originally struggled to come forward, thinking their experience wasn't "bad enough" compared to others or thinking that it could have been their own fault, and consequently that it didn't warrant being shared.
And while some people didn't have their own personal experiences to share, thousands offered words of encouragement and support to those that did.
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Jack Dorsey of Twitter has since promised changes to the platform's anti-harassment policies, and Harvey Weinstein is being stripped of his "Legion of Honor Award" by French President Emmanuel Macron (Janan Busier, CW33).
This trend, while sensitive to many, proves what can happen when social media platforms are used to voice injustices. #MeToo has shed some light on the magnitude of the problem of sexual assault, and hopefully it will change the culture surrounding it so that a real change can be made.
Great article! This is such an important and ignored topic. I was very glad when I saw that the conversation on sexual assault and the victims stories started to trend and go viral. I have found what people are posting to be very emotional, raw, and important to give this topic the attention it deserves. The first way to start to fix this huge problem is by having an open and honest conversation on the situation.
ReplyDeleteYour article was wonderful and profound. It's great that this issue is catching light, and very unfortunate that it hasn't been taken seriously until it takes over a social media platform. I think you're right, and within the meaning of the movement, is that until you see all of these cases and situations at once, in magnitude, everyone just brushed it aside until the next time. I, myself, was following this intently Friday when this started because it's amazing some of the stories, what they had been through, yet never said anything or were taken seriously. It is a very real issue that happens everyday, right underneath us, and it's about time people's eyes are open and ears are listening to these women crying for help.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. It has shocked me since being in college how often this occurs. I mean, I knew about it, but it seems to be growing (or at least being reported more which is good). So often people try to excuse certain behavior. But, in my opinion, this is something that should never be taken lightly or pushed under the rug. I hope women keep speaking up and pushing back. It's just not acceptable and I cannot think understand how some people try to justify this topic for men. Also, I hope men who are sexually assaulted or harassed start speaking out too. Thanks for talking about a tough subject.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is very powerful. I actually don't have Twitter so I was a little late to the game finding out about this hashtag. It breaks my heart that such a powerful movement began from an unfortunate incident, but in the end, it is making our nation unified and encouraging empowerment among one another. I really hope this movement keeps pressing forward across all social media platforms from men and women, seeing as this situation has a long way to go before any resolutions can be made.
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