So this is one of those things where I post my homework so that I can meet my daily-blogging mandate during a week that I have other homework that is kicking my ass in a legitimate way. But I want to make it clear my other intention for publishing this short reflection paper.
I don't want you to misinterpret my thoughts about #MeToo as expertly or informed or scholarly or even correct. I need you to know that this reflection paper was written in an hour or less for a class whose professor said that good grades would be given out for "correct spelling and grammar." So... I'm not worried about the grade.
But I am worried that I have legitimately misunderstood something about the #MeToo Movement. I am here to present my writings in the hopes that I get feedback—corrections, suggestions, opposing viewpoints, angry anonymous readers tell me to kill myself. If it's warranted! Go for it! I am your humble listener today. Tell me not for the grade, which is already secured, but for my own peace of mind. Help me be a better person.
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The #MeToo Movement is an unstructured social movement, in that it doesn’t have a chosen leader or membership or formal organization. It is more an idea that has taken hold in society and is aimed to create solidarity among survivors of sexual harassment. The ideas primarily spread online, as evidenced by the hashtag in front of the official name of the movement.
#MeToo was a term first used on MySpace in 2006 by Tarana Burke, who is a sexual assault survivor and an activist. The use of the term was adopted in large numbers in 2017, when sexual assault allegations were brought against movie producer Harvey Weinstein. The term is still used today, as the #MeToo Movement is an ongoing effort.
Though unstructured, it is agreed upon by most parties that it involves a discussion about sexual harassment, with a focus on harassment in the workplace, especially in the context of power dynamics. It encompasses a wide range of subjects under that umbrella. However, while all crime involving rape and sexual assault and sexual misconduct is serious and should be discussed in society and with policymakers, it is specifically sexual misconduct within power imbalances that remains the main focus of #MeToo. A general example being a person in power (a boss, a producer, a superior in the workplace hierarchy) leveraging that power to force unwanted sexual contact on someone who falls under that power structure. #MeToo seeks solutions on how to protect those who feel powerless in these situations, mainly through solidarity in numbers. “Me Too” literally referring to the act of speaking up about your own experiences so that others will not feel alone.
The question of whether #MeToo has been “successful” may be a difficult question to answer now, since the movement only gained serious momentum less than six years ago, and many would argue that the movement is ongoing currently. There were definitely short-term victories, in that many of the men in Hollywood who were alleged to have abused their power through sexual violence were “outed” and in some cases saw tangible discipline for their actions. However, others may argue that the overall stated goal—change societal expectations and responsibilities so that women feel protected—has not yet occurred, and may or may not ever occur. At best, large-scale change like that would be glacial, taking a generation or more to fully change. At worst, there are too many powerful men in charge of policymaking that have a vested interest in keeping things “the way they are.”
Indeed, there has been recently a noticeable backlash to the #MeToo Movement. Many of the men who were brought to court to face charges brought on by #MeToo-related allegations have been exonerated. Those who did not face criminal charges have slowly crept back into societal acceptance (e.g., Louis C.K., who, despite being met with #MeToo-related allegations from a host of women, regularly sells out Madison Square Garden, and even makes jokes about the allegations). And while something like the Roe v. Wade ruling being overturned is not directly related to the #MeToo backlash, it still speaks to the larger point about society unwilling to protect women’s safety.
One of the issues is that the movement seems to gain momentum when there are high-profile cases, but focusing on the Harvey Weinstein-scale allegations has a way of ignoring the thousands of cases of sexual misconduct in power imbalances that happen with non-famous people. A secretary at a company in Idaho who faces inappropriate sexual behavior from her male boss may still find that she has little recourse regarding his actions, and despite Harvey Weinstein spending the rest of his life in jail, society is still not at the place where this hypothetical victim would feel comfortable reporting the conduct, nor would she even be guaranteed recourse if she did feel comfortable enough reporting it. In this sense, perhaps we cannot say that #MeToo has been successful, despite some short-term gains.
A lesson that this movement can perhaps learn from previous social movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement, is that victory does not happen overnight, and victory is not guaranteed to last forever. Many of the victories stemming from the Civil Rights Movement that were codified in law (the Voting Rights Act, for instance) have been gutted a half a century later by opposing forces.
If somehow society were to change right now overnight and began to focus in earnest on protecting women’s safety both in the workplace and at large, then the fight would still not be finished. There would still be opposing forces who were doubling their efforts to turn things back to “how they were,” when those same forces held all the power.
So the question of “what needs to still be done” is an obvious one regarding #MeToo. It needs to continue. Discussions need to continue as to what safety looks like, and how we can achieve that ideal. Those discussions need to persist despite the noticeable backlash. Sexual misconduct needs to be called out, and toxic power imbalances need to be identified, and survivors need to be told that they are not alone in this fight. I don’t see these needs as any less relevant today as they were in 2017, or 2006, or at any point in American history, in a country that has never prioritized the needs of women.
Though unstructured, it is agreed upon by most parties that it involves a discussion about sexual harassment, with a focus on harassment in the workplace, especially in the context of power dynamics. It encompasses a wide range of subjects under that umbrella. However, while all crime involving rape and sexual assault and sexual misconduct is serious and should be discussed in society and with policymakers, it is specifically sexual misconduct within power imbalances that remains the main focus of #MeToo. A general example being a person in power (a boss, a producer, a superior in the workplace hierarchy) leveraging that power to force unwanted sexual contact on someone who falls under that power structure. #MeToo seeks solutions on how to protect those who feel powerless in these situations, mainly through solidarity in numbers. “Me Too” literally referring to the act of speaking up about your own experiences so that others will not feel alone.
The question of whether #MeToo has been “successful” may be a difficult question to answer now, since the movement only gained serious momentum less than six years ago, and many would argue that the movement is ongoing currently. There were definitely short-term victories, in that many of the men in Hollywood who were alleged to have abused their power through sexual violence were “outed” and in some cases saw tangible discipline for their actions. However, others may argue that the overall stated goal—change societal expectations and responsibilities so that women feel protected—has not yet occurred, and may or may not ever occur. At best, large-scale change like that would be glacial, taking a generation or more to fully change. At worst, there are too many powerful men in charge of policymaking that have a vested interest in keeping things “the way they are.”
Indeed, there has been recently a noticeable backlash to the #MeToo Movement. Many of the men who were brought to court to face charges brought on by #MeToo-related allegations have been exonerated. Those who did not face criminal charges have slowly crept back into societal acceptance (e.g., Louis C.K., who, despite being met with #MeToo-related allegations from a host of women, regularly sells out Madison Square Garden, and even makes jokes about the allegations). And while something like the Roe v. Wade ruling being overturned is not directly related to the #MeToo backlash, it still speaks to the larger point about society unwilling to protect women’s safety.
One of the issues is that the movement seems to gain momentum when there are high-profile cases, but focusing on the Harvey Weinstein-scale allegations has a way of ignoring the thousands of cases of sexual misconduct in power imbalances that happen with non-famous people. A secretary at a company in Idaho who faces inappropriate sexual behavior from her male boss may still find that she has little recourse regarding his actions, and despite Harvey Weinstein spending the rest of his life in jail, society is still not at the place where this hypothetical victim would feel comfortable reporting the conduct, nor would she even be guaranteed recourse if she did feel comfortable enough reporting it. In this sense, perhaps we cannot say that #MeToo has been successful, despite some short-term gains.
A lesson that this movement can perhaps learn from previous social movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement, is that victory does not happen overnight, and victory is not guaranteed to last forever. Many of the victories stemming from the Civil Rights Movement that were codified in law (the Voting Rights Act, for instance) have been gutted a half a century later by opposing forces.
If somehow society were to change right now overnight and began to focus in earnest on protecting women’s safety both in the workplace and at large, then the fight would still not be finished. There would still be opposing forces who were doubling their efforts to turn things back to “how they were,” when those same forces held all the power.
So the question of “what needs to still be done” is an obvious one regarding #MeToo. It needs to continue. Discussions need to continue as to what safety looks like, and how we can achieve that ideal. Those discussions need to persist despite the noticeable backlash. Sexual misconduct needs to be called out, and toxic power imbalances need to be identified, and survivors need to be told that they are not alone in this fight. I don’t see these needs as any less relevant today as they were in 2017, or 2006, or at any point in American history, in a country that has never prioritized the needs of women.
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