Me Too Movement
Historical Background
The #Me Too Movement is a social movement campaigning against sexual harassment and women’s sexual assault and helping young women find healing. It was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke, an activist, and sexual harassment survivor (Me Too., 2018). Burke recalls her helplessness when a 13- year old girl confessed to her how she was being assaulted sexually by her step-father. This confession, which took place during a youth camp in which Burke was a youth worker, inspired her to coin the phrase ‘me too’ which she wished she had the strength to tell the girl and reassure her that she understood her pain. The movement’s vision was to address the scarcity of resources required for sexual violence survivors to attain justice. To fulfill that, they thought of building a community of advocates, whose forefront would have survivors with solutions that curb sexual violence in their communities as well as other systems.
The movement formed under the phrase ‘Me Too’ empowered women through empathy and showing solidarity in their numbers. The hashtag ‘me too’, reassured victims, especially those who are young and vulnerable, that they were not alone (Me Too., 2018). It also demonstrated the number of women who had survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. In 2017, the movement got revived when an actress, Alyssa Milano, posted a tweet about it and encouraged more people to use the hashtag to make the masses understand the magnitude of the problem. The hashtag then went viral since high-profile celebrities joined in trending the topic and commenting on it. Following the popularity after that, it has since been translated to various other languages hence broadening the scope of the movement.
This new scope includes men and women of all races and ages. It resulted in a change in the purpose of the movement .as a result of the translations. From this movement, other hashtags spearheaded by men sprung forth. The hashtags #DidThat, #IHave, and #IWill were aimed at changing culture by encouraging self- reflection and inspiring future actions.
Currently, the movement has a goal to redesign the global conversation to accommodate all survivors’ needs from all walks of life; young people, transgender, queer, and people of color.
Reality Confronted
There is undoubtedly a lot of prevalence of gender-based violence still taking place today. The movement is aware of the many cases which go unreported over the fear of various factors, including retaliation plus the existence of a non- disclosure agreements. Sexual harassment and assault are taking place in schools, in workplaces- in different industries in healthcare systems, at homes, and even in churches. The way churches handle this abuse is disturbing since churches prefer to silence such scandals and even applaud pastors who confess and admit their mistakes. The sad bit is the assumption that survivors will be okay with forgiving those who abused them as long as they ask for forgiveness.
The more marginalized a group is, the more likely they get impacted. This fact makes poor women more vulnerable than the rich. If they are also women of color, it is even worse. The economic factor applies even in industries where the low- wage group of earners are victims of all kinds of abuse. Still, their complaints, if ever filed, hardly get treated with the seriousness it deserves. Sex workers and LGBTQIA survivors suffer silently, mainly because many are unable to come out and speak due to the judgment they may receive (Ison, 2019). The phobia that society attached to this group manifests in the form of a backlash. Society assumes that they deserve harassment and assault because of their behavior.
The movement is facing a considerable amount of backlash, especially when it comes to clarifying what exactly constitutes this kind of gender-based violence and its impact on men since they are getting slapped with allegations. There are fears that the movement’s recent trend makes men more vulnerable to false accusations over their misconduct.
Changing Attitudes and Ideologies
As a social movement, # MeToo has redefined what sexual harassment is and what it is not. Ideologies are very critical since they inform how people think and view things and situations. Ideologies stem from religious beliefs, political alignment, and they can be personal/ individual beliefs too. Ideologies are part of social constructions that may intend to shape society hence exercising dominance to some extent. This movement has had to break through some very absurd ideologies in society in a bid to create a clearer understanding of sexual harassment and to inform positive change for justice.
#Me Too was able to shift perceptions and thoughts of people in the society, hence convinced them to join the revolution. Tackling the culture of victim shaming and silencing encouraged more survivors to open and share their stories. By redefining the experience of sexual harassment as a gender-based inequality, and thus legally, a form of bias, they made it clear that it is not okay to just live through it all (Kunst et al., 2018). Sexual harassment, just like assault, is unacceptable. The delegitimization of sexual harassment enabled people to realize that it was possible to hold powerful men accountable and have them face the consequences of their sexual offenses.
#MeToo has played a part in informing change by actually raising awareness about how prevalent and damaging sexual violence is to the victims and survivors (Kunst et al., 2018). This movement shook the system by asserting that it is not the victims’ fault that they get sexually harassed or assaulted (Rodino-Colocino, 2018). It has changed how society looks at survivors of sexual harassment and assault by building their confidence and empowering them to defend themselves before a judge. The movement also advocates for people to get educated at a young age about their rights. They get taught to say no to sexual contact from anyone, as well as incorporating knowledge about how to recognize and report predatory behavior as soon as one notices it.
#Me Too Goals
Ms. Burke laid out several objectives that the movement seeks to fulfill. These include conducting a follow-up to ensure rape kits in the United States, which are untested get processed, protecting children at school, and carrying out investigations on the teacher-vetting process. The movement also seeks to improve training in workplaces, schools, and worship places and to update the sexual harassment policies.
According to Alyssa Milano, one of the priorities of the movement is to change some of the laws surrounding sexual assault and harassment. An example is the institutionalization of protocols that will enable victims in all the industries to file complaints without fear of facing retaliation. This goal is a result of the fact that many victims of assault in their workplaces fail to report the cases over the fear of being shamed, judged, having the claims dismissed, and eventually fired.
Successes of the Movement
The founders cannot claim full success at the fulfillment of all their goals yet, even though they have made several steps in progression, especially in furthering structural change. For instance, on the issue of sexual harassment/assault victims choosing to stay silent due to the fear of consequences that may result from challenging power, the dynamics have changed. The movement has managed to shed light on the ill-informed sexual entitlement of the perpetrators who are in control, and this case, mostly male. Considering the number of convictions and influential people who have been brought down as a result of the movement, it is safe to say that the movement is inching closer to success every day.
Some survivors have been able to get financial restitution. The case trial of USA’s former Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, who got sentenced to life for abusing more than 100 young athletes, is a highlight moment for #Me Too. Over 163 people had given testimonies over how his actions harmed them and their families. The University officials also got accused of turning a blind eye as well as failing to act on the reports tabled by the athletes. After negotiations with their lawyer, they settled on a $500 million settlement fund for over 300 people.
The movement has handled allegations held against legislators on both sides of the political wings hence shed light on the sexual misconduct of some Congress members (Kunst et al., 2018). Surprisingly, this has resulted in Congress taking steps to reform some of its processes to enable staffers to report sexual harassment incidents. Through the law, Congress eliminated the waiting period for those seeking to report misconduct. Legislators, too, were stopped from settling the harassment and assault cases using taxpayers’ funds.
#Me Too Internet Presence
The Me Too movement has its website and uses digital platforms on the internet to build a network of survivors. It connects them to resources under as per their policies. The support offered include healing resources in their online library. These contain articles, testimonials from survivors, as well as contacts of organizations (both local and national), which can help survivors access help in terms of overcoming their trauma and moving on with life productively. The national resources are also made available, and they cover a broader scope of survivors from all walks of life.
There are advocacy resources for advocates who handle these issues. There is a database for survivors to understand some of the local and regional laws that address sexual violence and their statistics. The platform also featured toolkits that can get downloaded. The kits specially designed for survivors contain information about the wellness circle facilitators and organizers, advocates, and journalists working with the movement. The toolkits also provide guidelines on identification and definitions of consent, opening discussions about sexual violence with children, and research with evidence and data on sexual violence cases. Journal prompts and social media cards.
Strategies of Communication
Communication is an essential part of any kind of revolution. As such, movements seeking change or resisting change by trying to influence people to buy their ideas
need to ensure they communicate efficiently. Communication is so essential that without it, mobilization of masses will not even take place. The numbers required to attain the goal-setting will be just but a dream. The strategy used by #Me Too was successful because survivors felt they shared experiences in a safe space, hence using a collective action approach to address their issues.
Social media is a crucial tool for communication. It has served as a platform in recent times to bring about change, especially politically. Young women and men who are feminists have also used social media to advance their feminism agenda. The movement employed social media in its campaign to spread awareness. This media had worked well for them because the campaign went viral under the hashtag MeToo when celebrities joined the wagon. The movement has since gone global, prompting the founder to redefine it as a worldwide movement that seeks justice for people who get marginalized in marginalized communities (Ghadery, 2019). Twitter remains a crucial communication tool since conversations relating to the movement still prevail and reach many who participate in the engagement.
Challenges facing #Me Too
The movement has come under a lot of criticism over the years. Some people cite that it has lost track of its primary goal and is becoming toxic by the day. There have been discussions which question the end goal of the movement, whether it seeks to inspire change (in both men and women) or if it focuses on demonizing them. Some women feel that the campaign may need to tone down on the cases they pursue and focus the examination on the worst types of cases to avoid what is seemingly a witch hunt or a war waged against men.
Another challenge the movement faces is taking into account the different degrees of sexual misconduct and coming clear on sexual harassment and assault. This clarity will avoid discrimination as a result of male experts shying away from mentoring females, especially juniors, and hiring women in positions that call for close interactions. Some feminists have argued that focusing so much energy on overcorrecting perpetrators and punishing them may send a silent message to men and younger people that confessing to mistakes is like signing up for their lives to get ruined. This argument gets backed by the fact that some of the accused men did not get fair treatment and received backlash. They got denied the audience a fair trial. In other cases, women have lied about being given fair trials.
The movement is yet to obtain real safety for the survivors who come out and openly speak since many of them still face harsh consequences. Effecting necessary changes in federal law is also a huge challenge that the movement still faces. The number of cases has gone up in some places with more women coming out and #Me Too calling sexual predators out on their misconduct. However, the challenge posed by the progress is whether systems and procedures are ready to handle the complaints that are coming up.
Police and prosecutors got urged to refine their approach so that they can improve conviction rates. Unfortunately, some of the accused individuals are still holding office. Feminists called on investigations to get carried out on President Trump’s misogynistic statement, where he implied that he could not control himself around beautiful women (Rodino-Colocino, 2018). This case is perhaps one of the biggest challenges, yet, the movement will face since. Calling out misdeeds is perfect, but actualizing the arrests, trials, and convictions are something different that will not happen on Twitter.
Web: An Alternative to Mainstream Media
The internet, in this case, social media has been a powerful tool for communication in recent times- a digital era. While the movement started in 2006, it took pretty much a whole decade to kick off well. Furthermore, this was with the help of social media following Alyssa’s tweet. The vast numbers reached overnight show the level of impact social media has on activism and inspiring change. Mainstream media picked up the hype after massive revelations, which incriminated Hollywood’s high profile acts like Harvey Weinstein. Since then, the media has also paid attention to the movement, especially in cases where politicians, celebrities, members of Congress, and other first-class citizens are involved.
The internet is an alternative to mainstream media and a good one at that. First of all, conveying information through the various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and My Space, just to mention but a few, are cheap. To get airtime on mainstream media, a lot of factors get considered, aside from the high costs charged and the number of connections required to even get aired at a time when the viewership is high. News streamed on online platforms by mainstream television channels is usually up to date, feeding news as it happens. The fact that the online platform has a lot of space; thus, more news can always get covered.
However, it will not be accurate to disregard the importance of both media in conveying information and the attainment of success for this movement. Mainstream media is essential because it extensively covers the revolutions and changes taking place across different parts of the world as a result of the hashtag #Me Too going viral. Mainstream media can influence perceptions of people considering how they represent feminist movements such as this one (Starkey et al., 2019). Mainstream media is also credible since the information shared is usually verified before it gets put out.
Power as an Influence
Power determines the influence and perceptions of people in society. Power is more of a strategy than a property. Those who own power can put their domination into effect, using policies, means, and techniques to protect their interests. Corporate media gets controlled, and thus the information they give may be censored or tailored to suit the owner’s taste.
On the other hand, the internet is free, and the user who is the content creator is solely responsible for their posts. Unless one gets limited by their field of career, like bureaucrats, they are free to express their personal views and share the opinions of others if they please. Since the internet provides an open space which some may consider safe to share their grievances, it serves to mobilize for masses since a lot of interactions get involved as a result of participating in the conversations held.
World Wide Web Challenging Corporate Media Domination
The internet and web development remains one of the most significant advancements in terms of technology that the world civilization has ever experienced. The World Wide Web may challenge corporate media domination since the speed and ease with which information sharing takes place online has almost rendered the costs of distribution of information void. Particularly when discussing news reporting and print media as well as the editors, the web brought them to the rude awakening that they are no longer the custodians of information. Whereas governments may still formally and officially chose to pass their messages across through the mainstream news channels, the web and social media have become the central place where information is derived swiftly and smoothly.
A lot of classified information that was safe gets leaked online, proving how much the process of disseminating and publishing information has transformed. Although many are aware that the information derived online may be crude, linking it later with news plus the nature of sharing, it gave it some sense of credibility. For many, news reporting on television no longer cuts it. It is, however, necessary for people to compare and contrast their sources of information and news to avoid receiving and peddling fake news. A lot of misinformation is likely to occur when one chooses to rely only on single unverified news sources, such as social media- the mother of propaganda.
Hacking is possibly the most significant challenge on the World Wide Web as it may lead to information distortion, leaking of content, and even spreading propaganda and fear. This move negatively affects the willingness of people to choose the tool as a communication medium. Governments and institutions monitoring and tracking peoples’ information also discourages the use and, in some cases, limits the use even wholly. This surveillance undermines the web and its role in bringing change.
Challenges of Organizers using World Wide Web
One particular challenge experienced by organizers of social movement is the possibility of substantial online support and presence, but the reality is different when it comes to the ground. The numbers needed to actualize a revolution may not be evident when physically required. (Diani, 2000) The views on the internet may also be exaggerated owing to the possibility that people hide behind their keyboards and say all manner of things. The other option could be the hype brought about when like-minded people come together. There may also be the logistics problem when it comes to organizing one-on-one activities since the most active members could be participating miles away from the event organizers. Social movements bring together a considerable number of people from different cultural backgrounds. Coordinating the views and perspectives and catering to the needs of these people can be quite challenging. Moreso, if it has done virtually over the internet. There is always something magical about groups working together physically. Communication of information takes place more efficiently, and people understand each other better. Physically assigning roles also ensure higher chances of success as opposed to working with virtual figures.
In light of the discussion above, the #Me Too Movement deserves to receive its credit because it is due. No feminist movement started so humbly, and the wave later caught the world like a Tsunami. The power of social media once again got demonstrated clearly by this movement. The number of high profile men that were held accountable to their actions; some lost their jobs, others resigned, and others even got convicted and are serving jail terms. While the success rate may not be a hundred percent yet, the strides made are worth recognizing. If the concerns raised are tackled, the negativity surrounding the movement may get eliminated. I believe this is a very legitimate concern, because any war fought by feminists if it succeeds, is a win for everyone. Sexual harassment and assault are more prevalent among women, but if the war is embraced by all, men too who are survivors will overcome the shame and come out to share their experiences and report their cases. After all, # Me Too still has a considerable amount of space to accommodate everyone with its ever-widening scope.
References
Diani, M. (2000). Social movement networks virtual and real. Information, Communication & Society, 3(3), 386-401. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180051033333
Ghadery, F. (2019). #Metoo—has the ‘sisterhood’ finally become global or just another product of neoliberal feminism? Transnational Legal Theory, 10(2), 252-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/20414005.2019.1630169
Ison, J. (2019). ‘It’s not just men and women’: LGBTQIA people and #MeToo. #MeToo and the Politics of Social Change, 151-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_10
Kunst, J. R., Bailey, A., Prendergast, C., & Gundersen, A. (2018). Sexism, rape myths, and feminist identification explain gender differences in attitudes toward the #metoo social media campaign in two countries. Media Psychology, 22(5), 818-843. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/jysw8
Me Too. (2018, August 17). About. Me Too Movement. https://metoomvmt.org/about/#history
Rodino-Colocino, M. (2018). Me Too, #MeToo: Countering cruelty with empathy. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 15(1), 96-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2018.1435083
Starkey, J. C., Koerber, A., Sternadori, M., & Pitchford, B. (2019). #MeToo goes global: Media framing of silence breakers in four national settings. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 43(4), 437-461. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859919865254