Exploration of 'Me Too Movement': a World-spread Feminism Campain

Have you ever wondered if you’re the only one that got abused or harassed by someone? Well with 7.8 billion people in the world there have been numerous accounts and accusations from victims for years. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, almost half of female (46.7%) and male (44.9%) victims of rape in the United States were raped by an acquaintance. Of these, 45.4% of female rape victims and 29% of male rape victims were raped by an intimate partner. Also, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contacts sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc. All ages and genders sadly get abused by a stranger, acquaintance or their own intimate partner. After a tragedy such as that, people and kids are often scared to come forward and talk about the situation. They feel a sense of shame, sometimes they are in denial and feel as though it was not a big deal and to forget about the whole thing. Another reason why they would not come forward is because they may develop low self-esteem within themselves. They feel violated and do not respect their own bodies anymore. Over the years’ time have changed and people are now coming forth with their stories to help one another, for self-empowerment and to bring justice and awareness to this situation. The #ME TOO movement talks about harassment stories, scandalous artist such as R. Kelly and Bill Cosby and equality in today’s society. People in or outside of this movement no matter the gender, race or age, telling their stories is a way of gaining comfort and receiving justice.

Catapulting Me-Too Movement to Global Recognition

The Me-Too Movement is an organization that centers mostly about abuse and harassment towards women and men alike. This foundation was founded by Tarana Burke ten years ago for women of color. The movement was made to help and support victims of sexual assault. “It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow, It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible”, said Burke. The Me-Too Movement when global after an actress by the name of Alyssa Milano took to twitter to ask her followers to speak out about their experiences with being sexually assaulted and harassed using the phrase “Me Too”. The power of this movement brought down men such as Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein, with allegations of misconduct.

Social media has become more beneficial and efficient as the years go on. It took one post from Alyssa Milano for people to open up about their stories to share to the world. This gave them the confidence and drive to come out about their alleged attackers and abusers. In the case of Harvey Weinstein, more than 50 women have come out about his allege abusiveness towards them. A lady by the name of Mimi Haleyi, was a former production assistant that came out on the alleged attack that happened in her early 20s. With continued back and forth between the two over a long period of time, Milano went to his apartment in SoHo to maintain a professional relationship with him. Milano was escorted to his apartment, and went on to say, “he was all over me making sexual advances.' She continued, 'I told him 'no, no no', but he insisted'.

There are a lot of artist out there that do many scandalous things that also make headlines on the news and social media. A main example would be the artist R. Kelly, he has been accused of messing with little girls since 2002. Now that there has been a documentary out about his sexual allegations, he has repeatedly denied the claims. Also, an online campaign named #MuteRKelly started the following year in May. Male artist that do terrible things are not heavily persecuted for their actions. People do not separate the art from the artist. They dismiss their actions and do not see the big picture. Whether they are an artist, painter, writer, singer, actor etc. people would give them the benefit of the doubt because they refuse the accusations against that person.

The Global Spread of #MeToo Campain

R. Kelly and Bill Cosby are the most talked about sex assaulters in the past decade. Many women have come out about these two men doing horrible things towards them. Out of many that came forward there where two that stood out in their testimonies. They are Jerhonda Pace and Lisa Van Allen respectively.

“Rob was my first everything. I met him outside of the child-pornography trial, about two weeks before my 15th birthday. I was a huge fan of his music and was at the trial every day. One day he stopped and said, “Thank you for your support,” and said when it was over he would give me something. He ended up giving me his autograph and later sent me a friend request on MySpace. I met up with him at a party he was having. I was 16 then. He said to tell everyone I’m 19 and act like I’m 21. The first time I went to his house he told me we were going swimming, but we never did. He told me to take off my clothes and walk back and forth like I was modelling for him. I thought it was no big deal. But the requests became more demanding. I had to perform sexual acts with others. He coached me on what to say to my mom. He slapped me, choked me until I passed out. If it wasn’t for him spitting in my face, I’d probably still be there. That was my lowest point. Afterwards my family got an attorney who advised us against going to the police, bringing up his last trial and how it ended. We filed a civil suit and settled on $1.5 million. It hasn’t been easy pulling my life together. I still get paranoid. If I could tell him anything now, it would be to get help”.

“We met at the video shoot for his song “Home Alone.” One of the first things he asked me was, “How old are you?” We had sex that same day—he didn’t waste any time. If I didn’t listen to him or if I spoke to one of the guys on the tour bus, he’d smack me. Once he spanked me like a child until I cried. He said, “I love you, you got to listen to Daddy.” We had a threesome when I was 17, and he said that she was a 16-year-old neighbour. After speaking with her years later, I learned she was only 14 at the time. I loved him, and initially I didn’t want to turn my back on him. If I brought up him liking underage girls, he would always come at me with “If you love someone, you don’t try to change them.” As I got older, I realized he wasn’t going to change. I’m the one who testified against him in 2008 [as part of the child-porn case]. When people say, “Why are you just now speaking out?” I say, “I came out 10 years ago, but it was brushed under the rug.” It’s a blessing now that girls are ready to talk. 

Conclusion

The #MeToo Movement is a place for everyone to talk about their stories. An outlet for men, women and teenagers alike to share their past experiences with no shame. Shared harassment or abuse stories can be helpful for people experiencing the same thing and can help the mind, body and soul with healing itself. Holding celebrities accountable for their actions properly, no matter who they are, how famous they are or the amount of money they have.

Works Cited

• “NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.” The Nation's Leading Grassroots Voice on Domestic Violence, ncadv.org/statistics.
• Hill, Zahara. “A Black Woman Created the ‘Me Too’ Campaign Against Sexual Assault 10 Years Ago.” EBONY, 14 Dec. 2018, www.ebony.com/news/black-woman-me-too-movement-tarana-burke-alyssa-milano/.
• Jaffe, Sarah. “The Collective Power of #MeToo.” Dissent (00123846), vol. 65, no. 2, Spring 2018, pp. 80–87. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/dss.2018.0031.
• Kirsch, Adam. “What Should We Do About Scandalous Artists?” Wall Street Journal - Online Edition, 26 Jan. 2019, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=134286447&site=ehost-live.
• Love, David A. Bill Cosby's fall ripples through the #MeToo movement, NBC News, 26 Sept 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/bill-cosby-s-fall-ripples-through-metoo-movement-n913361
• Rubenstein, Janine. “WOMEN SPEAK OUT ABOUT R. KELLY ‘We Won’t Be Silent Anymore.’” People, vol. 91, no. 2, Jan. 2019, pp. 50–55. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=133899263&site=ehost-live.
• Schmidt, Samantha. “#MeToo: Harvey Weinstein Case Moves Thousands to Tell Their Own Stories of Abuse, Break Silence.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 16 Oct. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/16/me-too-alyssa-milano-urged-assault-victims-to-tweet-in-solidarity-the-response-was-massive/?utm_term=.0891d1615e62.
• Strause, Jackie. “Harvey Weinstein Accuser Says He ‘Orally Forced Himself on Me.’” The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Oct. 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harvey-weinstein-accuser-says-he-orally-forced-himself-me-i-was-my-period-1051497.
• Vagianos, Alanna. “Tarana Burke Tells Black Women Me Too Is 'Your Movement, Too'.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 10 Sept. 2018, www.huffpost.com/entry/tarana-burke-tells-black-women-me-too-is-your-movement-too_n_5b967c8fe4b0162f472f65f6.
• Ward, Stephanie Francis. “Times Up: As the Me Too Movement Continues to Shed Light 1.2on Sexual Harassment and Assault, Sparking Changes in Various Industries, the Egal and Judicial Systems Have Been Slow to Adapt.” ABA Journal, vol. 104, no. 6, June 2018, pp. 46–54. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130114204&site=ehost-live.