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#MeToo, Moving Forward: How Reckoning with an Imperfect Movement Can Help Us Examine Violent Inequality, Past and Present, In Order to Dismantle it in the Future

2019; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 36; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/scr.2019.0010

1549-3377

Meghan Gilbert-Hickey,

Gender Politics and Representation

#MeToo, Moving Forward:How Reckoning with an Imperfect Movement Can Help Us Examine Violent Inequality, Past and Present, In Order to Dismantle it in the Future Meghan Gilbert-Hickey (bio) I am a survivor of sexual harassment and assault. Most women—and many men—are.1 It feels, somehow, ridiculous to begin an academic text with this statement. It feels necessary. It feels like the only choice we have. The #MeToo movement garnered widespread coverage in the fall of 2017, after actor Ashley Judd accused producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in an interview with The New York Times.2 A week later, Amazon head Roy Prince resigned after allegations of sexual harassment made by producer Isa Hackett in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.3 The same day, actor Alyssa Milano went public with her own Harvey Weinstein harassment experiences, via a post on her website, which included the following statement: While I am sickened and angered over the disturbing accusations of Weinstein's sexual predation and abuse of power, I'm happy—ecstatic even—that it has opened up a dialogue around the continued sexual harassment, objectification and degradation of women. To the women who have suffered any form of abuse of power, I stand beside you. To the women who have come forward against a system that is designed to keep you silent, I stand in awe of you and appreciate you and your fortitude. It is not easy to disclose such experiences, especially in the public eye. Your strength will inspire others. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for fighting this battle so hopefully my daughter won't have to.4 Two days later, Milano furthered her words of solidarity with a social media call for survivors. She Tweeted, "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet" and included the hashtag "#MeToo."5 To date, over 52,000 Twitter users have liked the Tweet and over 23,000 have retweeted.6 Nearly 66,000 people have replied, the vast majority of whom have included the words or hashtag [End Page 1] "Me too," or a brief account of their sexual harassment and/or assault.7 A year after Milano's Tweet, more than 19 million Tweets using #MeToo have followed.8 But the rallying call "Me Too" existed long before Milano Tweeted it out to her followers. A decade before the #MeToo hashtag went viral, survivor and activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase as a way to forge community and make visible supports for women and girls of color who had survived similar experiences. Burke began the Me Too Movement in 2006 based on her community work with girls in New York, Alabama, and around the country. When she first heard of Milano's Tweet, as it became a central part of the media frenzy on famous accusers and victims, she had already begun a documentary, Me Too, about her work with survivors. Burke recalls thinking, "If this grows big, this is going to completely overshadow my work."9 However, she was also moved by the hashtag's reception so she chimed in, for both reasons: "One, before my work is erased, and two, because if I can support people, I have to do that."10 Burke put out the following response, via Twitter and Instagram, which included a link to her organization's website and a 2014 video of Burke speaking at a rally: It has been amazing watching all of the pushback against Harvey Weinstein and in support of his accusers over the last week. In particular, today I have watched women on social media disclose their stories using the hashtag #metoo. It made my heart swell to see women using this idea—one that we call 'empowerment through empathy'—to not only show the world how wide-spread and pervasive sexual violence is, but also to let other survivors know they are not alone. The point of the work we've done over the last decade with the 'me too movement' is to let women, particularly young women of color know that they are not alone—it's a movement. It's beyond a...