Olivia Telecky–

On October 15th, 2017 actress Alyssa Milano tweeted that if anyone had been sexually harassed or assaulted they should write “Me Too” as a response to her tweet. In the following days, 12 million people posted tweets with the #metoo. But what led to this moment? To understand the effectiveness of the #MeToo movement, we first need to investigate its roots. 

Sexual harassment and assault have been major issues throughout history, specifically, the women’s severance movement fought to end this abuse believing that if women had the right to vote, their protections might end up on the ballet. Women’s groups had been meeting to discuss these issues and understand that they are widespread issues and not individual negative experiences. Though women had been dealing with abuse prior to their ability to enter the workplace, the amount of abuse they went through increased as they began to work in offices with men. Consequently, the term ‘sexual harassment’ was coined in the mid-1970s. 

The conversation around workplace sexual harassment exploded in 1991 when Anita Hill stood before a Senate leadership panel, and the rest of the country through the broadcast of the trial, and shared her experiences working with Clarance Thomas, who was potentially going to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Her negative experiences were investigated by the FBI before they went before the panel, becoming a scandal for the American public to witness. Thomas was described by the media as having “won” his case by the end of his opening statement where he described the whole ordeal as being “distorted”, “calculated”, and “unamerican”. Thomas claimed that Hill purposefully leaked this information to the media to ruin his reputation, even though she requested that her affidavit remain private. Several men on the panel were outraged by Hill’s request for privacy, with one senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch, saying, “It would be the greatest travesty I’ve ever seen in any court of law, let alone an open forum, in the nomination process of a man for Justice of the United States Supreme Court, to allow her attorneys, or her, or anybody else for that matter to tell us what we can or cannot be used now that this man’s reputation has been very badly hurt… I think it’s time to be fair to the nominee”. This fairness was, unfortunately, not spread to Hill, who had her entire testimony broadcast and scrutinized by the entire country. 

Hill discussed an issue that hit home for many women who were watching. She went into detail about how Thomas allegedly tried to ask her out on multiple occasions, had obscene conversations with her often, and on one occasion told her that if she told anyone about this, it would ruin his life. Hill focused heavily on the fact that Thomas would give her a lot of opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available to her if she didn’t work for him, saying “I was aware, however, that telling at any point in my career could adversely affect my future career”. Hill was subsequently questioned on what she would gain by falsifying this information if she was trying to act as a martyr, and why she wouldn’t leave her job with him sooner. The focus of this hearing wasn’t on what happened to Hill, but rather on what happened to Thomas’s accusations because of this investigation. In the end, Thomas was added to the Supreme Court and remains there to this day. 

Feminist activists saw how this coverage negatively portrayed survivors of harassment and worked to create safe spaces for those survivors. One of these activists was Tarana Burke. Burke saw how public discourse negatively affected survivors, especially young women of color, and created the #MeToo Foundation in 2006. Women of color and younger people are especially vulnerable to acts of sexual harassment and assault because, as journalist Julie Bindel said, “The sexual excitement for many men . . . is the women from the lowest rung of the ladder because he can treat her like a throwaway Klenix”. Though Burke’s initial goal was to provide support for these children, #MeToo ended up being much bigger than she expected. The use of social media turned #MeToo into a global movement. Women’s rights organizer, Aisha Ali-Khan, said, in reaction to the wide support for #MeToo, “The fact that we are still talking about the #MeToo movement shows how significant the movement has been”; Proving that it created some positive change, even if it didn’t uproot the entire system.

The #MeToo movement shined a spotlight on assaulters in Hollywood such as Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault and third-degree rape, and was sentenced to 23 years in jail. Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, Roman Polansky, and Woody Allen were also accused of using their power dynamic to take advantage of people. Specifically, Anthony Robb came forward as a survivor of Kevin Spacey, showing that male victims do exist and they also need support. However, the focus on one institution prevented people from understanding the true root of this issue. In her 2020 address at Oxford University, Burke discussed the results of the #MeToo movement, saying “When we hone in on individual bad actors, or depraved isolated behavior, we fail to recognize that any position of power comes with privilege, and it renders those without that power more vulnerable to harm”. So, outside of Hollywood, what have the effects of #MeToo been?

In 2017, the first #MeToo women’s march took place, and there has been one every year since. It also raised awareness for what stopped many people from coming forward, NDA’s. NDA’s, or nondisclosure agreements, have been used by predators to silence their victims and stop them from seeking justice. Weinstein had a particularly thorough NDA that prevented survivors from telling anyone, even therapists, about their experiences. Luckily, the #MeToo Congress bill made it so any worker who experienced workplace harassment or assault must have the ability to seek justice in the courts. #MeToo also forced companies to look into their sexual harassment policies and make it easier for workers to file complaints and see appropriate action taken.

This doesn’t mean that #MeToo has been without failure, though. When the workplace culture began to shift there were many stories around men being “afraid” to hire women which crowded the newswaves. Known predators such as Woody Allen and Roman Polansky have also been able to keep their prestigious roles in Hollywood, continuing to be nominated for Oscars and gaining work. The National Sexual Violence Research Center found that “Nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime”, and that while 40% of sexual assaults were reported to police in 2017, only 25% were reported in 2018. However, to say that #MeToo wasn’t successful is to misunderstand what the #MeToo movement was about, which was supporting survivors.  #MeToo is only one of several organizations that provide resources and justice to survivors who would otherwise be alone in this battle. To anyone reading this article please know that you are not alone, your struggles are real and valid, and there is help out there when you are ready to receive it. 

National Assault Telephone Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-2253

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233