Starting in the late 1990’s prior to the widespread use of the hashtag, the Me Too movement was initiated by Tarana Burke, who knew it was due time to help those affected by sexual harassment and assault. Thanks to technological advancements and the use of social media, today’s world is kept aware of such heinous actions, who the perpetrators are, and how to spot a potential sexual predator. Most of all, social media has granted society a medium through which we can unite to share our experiences and create a public service announcement to help others be more aware of the indiscretions taking place.
Bill Cosby: Mr. Huxtable, family-man, Jell-O Pudding aficionado. The world was first shocked two years ago when Bill Cosby’s 60+ sexual assault victims united to out Cosby for the threat he is. Spanning over the past three decades, the accusations against Cosby include: sexual harassment, assault, rape and drugging women so he could take advantage of them. Cosby quickly plummeted from America’s standard for the ideal family-man to public enemy number one.
Now, just recently, film tycoon Harvey Weinstein has been exposed for his transgressions against over 50 women, many of whom are popular actresses who were forced into terrible circumstances by their boss, Mr. Weinstein, with their careers and lives leveraged as a means to get them to do what he wanted them to do.
At first, it was shocking. Sexual assault? Rape? Sure, these had unfortunately existed since long before anyone can remember, but have they really been this prevalent in our society? How could we have been so oblivious?
We, as a society, as a people, need to change.
We must become more observant, not just in recognizing and believing the victims when they tell their stories after the incident, but identifying a potential assaulter and situation before it actually happens. We must know the signs of a potential assaulter, harasser and rapist. It is for these reasons that a movement like #MeToo is unequivocally significant for our world today. #MeToo started a dialogue that we all need to be a part of. It will help us learn, it will help us heal, and most importantly, it might help us prevent an incident from happening.
For those out there who are not ready to or feel as though they cannot share their story yet, #YouToo.
Thumbnail Photo by Mihai Surdu on Unsplash