In 2006 a movement was founded by a woman named Tarana Burke. This movement was specifically aimed to help the survivors of sexual violence and even more specifically focused on women and girls of colour from low-income communities around the globe. Burke’s vision from the beginning was to both build a community of supporters and to address the scarcity in resources for survivors of sexual violence. This movement was regarded as the #MeToo Campaign.
Within less than six months the #MeToo hashtag sparked an essential conversation about sexual violence that was propelled into a national discussion. Soon after the viral hashtag traversed its way through the internet, problems regarding the popular movement began to arise. The critics of the hashtag soon made comparisons between the campaign and the feminism movement, arguing that these views on sexuality where “even consent can be understood as an effect, rather than an exercise of power” (Chaplin, Financial Reveiw 2018). These arguments can date back to even the Victorian age. Critics of #MeToo have spoken out as well, suggesting that many of the women speaking out as part of the campaign are in fact taking advantage of the instant attention and turning victimhood into personal gain instead.
The virality of the hashtag became a returning topic of debate on a subject that has existed for two decades before its time, that being the subject of feminism or the feminist movement. Not only over what constitutes abuse, but also over the status of women, men, and the culture that for so long has been called as patriarchal. This debate became centered around many distinctions, some being between seduction and coercion, rape and harassment, sex and power, between actors and “real” women as victims and women as empowered, between actors and “real” women, experts and laypeople, and even political correctness and free-speech. This inventory demonstrates the multifaced and complex issues raised by the #MeToo movement, which all constitutes to aspects of the Western culture.
The controversy surrounding the argument of the #MeToo movement was able to magnify an already existing social dynamic of the feminist culture and how it plays a vital role in the western world. It also amplified the debates and arguments that have been places of disagreement for people for over decades. The hashtag was able to enhance the discussions to the extent where people with verbal power such as celebrities, spoke out about the controversy that has occurred within the #MeToo campaign. News sites and media posts have also been circulated regarding the backlash the foundation has caused. It is clear that there were two sides to this hashtag, the supporters, and the critics.
As people continued to be skeptical of the movement the foundation itself continued to stand up to the critics and skepticism of its goals. The foundation was able to become stronger because of it and helped the #MeToo movement become one of the most prominent viral hashtags that had a meaningful goal to ever exist on social media. Through the adversities, the movement faced it was able to effectively bring awareness to sexual violence and abuse that affected women around the globe.
Citations:
Chaplin, Felicity. “Why #MeToo Divides Feminists.” Financial Review, Financial Review, 13 June 2018, www.afr.com/lifestyle/the-problems-with-the-metoo-movement-20180612-h119w9.
Cotter, Lucy. “Meet the Woman Who Started the #MeToo Movement.” Sky News, 2 Mar. 2018, news.sky.com/story/meet-the-woman-who-started-the-metoo-movement-11272580.
Drexler, Peggy. “It’s OK to Criticize the #MeToo Movement.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/04/15/opinions/tony-robbins-metoo-backlash-opinion-drexler/index.html.
“About.” Me Too Movement, metoomvmt.org/about/.
Hey Michelle, I was really impressed with your blog on the powerful topic of the #MeToo movement. I feel like you did a really good job explaining the concept as well as providing some valuable information alongside it.
I see how, overall, you talk about there being two sides of people for this movement, the supporters of the movement and the people who criticized it by making comparisons to the feminism movement. I also found it interesting how you linked some of these ideas back to the arguments the women had during the Victorian age.
Finally, I like how you showed how the #MeToo movement gained its popularity and gained its virality as a powerful hashtag; eg: People with verbal power ie: celebrities talking about it, and also news media outlets picking up on this story.
Overall, I found your article about the success of the #MeToo movement very informative and interesting to read!