The #MeToo Story
A Quick Synopsis of the #MeToo Movement
The Activity Surrounding #MeToo
The stage was set for #MeToo when Ashley Judd accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment on October 5, 2017. Ten days later, Alyssa Milano tweeted the following: If you have been sexually harassed or assaulted, write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. This phrase had originally been coined in 2006 by civil rights activist Tarana Burke to raise awareness of sexual harassment and when it was used in 2017 by Milano it went viral.
Social Media Activism
The scale of the Twitter conversation has encouraged over three million individuals to speak out about sexual misconduct, sparking an unprecedented global conversation.
Twitter Movements & Social Change
#MeToo has increased awareness and visibility of a pervasive societal problem and amplified the voices of those who have been injured. The most transformative potential of the #MeToo movement may be in linking the scale of what is known about sexual misconduct to issues of power and inequality that are harder to see. It also gives us a glimpse into the everyday attacks and shaming faced by victims of sexual abuse, and the persistent social acceptance of victim blaming and its connection to larger, systemic forms of inequality.