The #MeToo movement surfaced in 2017 in light of many sexual assault and harassment allegations against powerful men in the Hollywood industry — most notably Harvey Weinstein. It quickly spread to a broader demographic with people taking to social media, primarily that of Twitter, to share their own experiences with the issue and maintain a sort of solidarity with other victims. With people from all genders, race and age contributing to this social movement, it is no surprise that it quickly gained traction in the media, even going as far as developing their own website. While this proved to be beneficial in exposing many of the people exploiting these systems of power, it also revealed an already existing social dynamic. This social media movement garnered a lot of support from many people, however, it also exposed the ideals of many people who previously didn’t have this big of a platform to express it.
#MeToo brought attention to the rape culture that exists in our society. With many victims of sexual violence who do come forward being told that they are simply “looking for attention” or are making it up as a way to gain sympathy. Cindy Bradshaw, one of the critics of the movement seems to share similar sentiments in the context of the hashtag, stating that she feels as though many of accusations going around are exaggerated, or false all together. Much of rape culture is rooted in sexism, most often against women, with people accusing women of ‘playing victim’. That being said, male victims of sexual violence suffer from this behaviour as well — often being dismissed because “men can’t be raped or sexually assaulted” — and many went on to join the #MeToo movement, as well.
The movement was overall successful in its goal, bringing these people in positions of power to the forefront and speaking up against the injustice they took part in. However, it was also successful in more of a side-goal; it brought much needed attention to the aggressive and hateful remarks that many victims receive, yet many people dismiss. Much like the way the racist comments on Yik Yak gave a sort of physical evidence to the issue, so did this hashtag. The mistreatment of sexual assault and harassment victims is not a new phenomenon, it has existed in our society for a long time with an uneven power dynamic between the assailant and the victim, favouring the assailant. This social media phenomenon, while no longer as “mainstream” as in 2017, magnified this dynamic by both people coming forward to share their stories — no longer remaining silenced — as well as the negative, sometimes aggressive, backlash it received, on display through the internet for everyone to see.