We All Need Support: A Response to Weinstein Accusers

Fear breeds silence. If there is anything we have learned from the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, it is this.

Fear of rejection.

Fear of ending a career.

Fear of what others might say.

Fear of no support.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where women are harassed on a daily basis. Because of this, many are inclined to believe that speaking out would only make matters worse. Why else would strong, affluent women like Angelina Jolie, Cara Delavigne and countless others stay silent?

While different answers to this question have been surfacing, I believe Reese Witherspoon answered it best when speaking at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event on Monday night, “I don’t speak about them very often, but after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight, the things that we’re kind of told to sweep under the rug and not talk about, it’s made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I felt less alone this week than I’ve ever felt in my entire career.”

In her speech, Witherspoon indicates that support is the number one reason she didn’t speak out sooner. This lack of support is largely due to the silence surrounding the issue. Thankfully, this will no longer be a problem. The now widely spread #MeToo hashtag has created not only the support women need, but also the attention sexual harassment and assault requires.  The Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano inspired the #MeToo campaign in support of ending the silence we once deemed ‘okay,’ with her tweet: “If all the women and men who have been sexually harassed, assaulted or abused wrote ‘me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem. #metoo”

Milano posted this tweet on Oct. 16, and since then has gotten 25 thousand retweets.

The traction this one tweet created has been monumental. According to data from the social analytics company Crimson Hexagon, the #MeToo hashtag has indisputably surpassed other feminist hashtags such as #YesAllWomen and #EverydaySexism.

As popular as other feminist hashtags have been, #MeToo accumulated more uses in 24 hours than the other two hashtags had for the entire year.

Will the traction from this one tweet be able to evoke change? With so many recent sexual harassment and assault scandals infiltrating the globe, will the empowerment from this tweet alone finally bring the attention that’s needed?

These are a select few women who have used #MeToo to represent their support and voice their own stories with Weinstein and beyond.

Fear breads silence more than any other emotion, but the stronger we become and the more we speak out together, the likelier the fear that once fueled our silence will dissipate.

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