“If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
On October 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano posted the above Tweet to her followers. Within a 24 hour timespan, this post generated thousands of replies, comments, retweets and original posts across all social media platforms. These posts came from both women and men, celebrities and non-household names such as students, waitresses, and nurses.
Some posted about having to fend off sexually aggressive co-workers and losing jobs due to defending themselves, while others opened for the first time about being sexually assault or raped.
In just weeks, the #MeToo movement—which was started by activist Tarana Burke 10-years earlier—became a widespread campaign that aimed to end sexual violence and harassment, and promote gender equity and accountability. In 2006, Burke used the phrase “Me Too” to create a movement that creates “empowerment through empathy” for survivors of sexual violence.
Dozens of powerful men were accused—many of them fell, and a handful of them were criminally charged.
The most infamous conviction was in the charge of rapist and sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein is a former film producer who was exposed and banished from Hollywood with the rise of the Me Too movement in 2017.
In 2019, Bombshell—the docufilm based on the accounts of women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment—hit theaters.
The film focuses on Megyn Kelly, who faced an onslaught of insults from Donald Trump after co-moderating the 2016 Republican debate.
Trump was angry with Kelly because she asked him about his very public and offensive comments toward women. After receiving death threats, massive, unwanted paparazzi attention, and extreme pressure from the network, Kelly was forced to reconcile with Trump.
Meanwhile, Gretchen Carlson is removed as co-anchor of the popular Fox & Friends show and transferred to a less popular show.
After being bombarded with sexist comments both on and off air, and by Ailes, she meets with lawyers, who tell her that her contract prevents her from suing the network, but she can sue Ailes personally.
Eventually, after more and more women come forward to Carlson’s attorneys, Ailes’ credibility is undermined and he is fired by Fox co-founder Rupert Murdock. Ailes settled Carlson’s lawsuit for $20M, while Fox eventually paid the victims of sexual harassment.
Although the “Me Too” movement began 10 years before Milano’s #MeToo tweet in 2017, her social media post jump started the movement to spread like wildfire across all social media platforms. Social provided the platforms for the “Me Too” movement to hit mainstream media and the public conversation, which led to actions in the physical, not just digital, world.
The #MeToo movement has led to an increased awareness to the scope of sexual violence and harassment, increased efforts to hold perpetrators responsible, some state abolished statutes of limitations for reporting sex-crimes and banned nondisclosure agreements, and many workplaces have enacted anti-harassment policies. There has also been a major cultural shift where social pressure has led to a shift that stigmatizes sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
Social media was critical to empowering the #MeToo movement by providing voices to those who had been silenced and ignored in society. This social media campaign gave sexual violence survivors power to share their stories and develop a very recognizable movement against sexual abuse through the circulation of the hashtag #MeToo.
Comments