When will the #MeToo Movement become the #WeToo Movement

Marching for the #MeToo Movement

1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime. Sexual assault and harassment has been a discussion in society for years. Tarana Burke was leading the healing circle of Philadelphia where she began to share her story of her sexual assault and encourages others to join the discussion. This ran from 1998 to 2015. The #MeToo Movement came about October 5th, 2017 from people sharing their stories online of their sexual assaults. This attracted many people and became a headline in news articles as well as becoming a part of discussion in mainstream media. In today's society there is a new story about someone being sexual assaulted every week. The #MeToo Movement is about ending sexual assault and exposing people who abuse their power to do so. However, instead the movement is creating a bigger problem than what was intended. 

The #MeToo Movement allows women to speak out and know that there is a whole community of people out there that understands the pain, trauma and even fears that they can be going through. They formed a group that won't judge you or question your actions but will listen to one another and support you. The movement started online and then took the initiative to expose Hollywood and what people in power do to women.

AP News Article

The movement has called attention to the disgusting acts that men in power commit but it also allows people to realize that sometimes the punishments that are given are not enough. This is not new in today's society. Most recently, a former Bayler University student sexually assaulted a girl after offering her a drink and leading her up to a tent where he raped her. In the article by AP News, sparked outrage for the fact that the judge accepted a plea deal which consisted of him seeking counseling, paying a $400 dollar fine and not being registered on the sex offenders list.

This proves that the #MeToo Movement does not only apply to actors and actresses but everyday people. It's great that it's bringing more attention to the  punishments given to those who are accused of sexual assault are not enough. Some people get away with crimes and don't serve any time, which leaves the victims feeling helpless because the person who caused so much pain and horror is still able to live their lives without any consequences.

The media getting involved and exposing the men in Hollywood who abused their power like Harvey Weinstein or even R.Kelly,  and bringing attention to an issue that needs to stop happening helps to exploit men in power. Some argue that the #MeToo Movement has shifted its focus. Lionel Shriver did an interview with Independent where she talked about why she believes the whole movement needs to end now. Lionel Shriver's interview, within the article she states “Then it took a turn and suddenly we were talking about bad dates and bad taste or making crass remarks and it trivialized itself and I thought that was really regrettable". She feels as if the main focus of the argument has lost its ways. She also goes on to talk about how some people feel as if the only way to speak about this movement or even have an opinion is to have a story of your own.

Even though the #MeToo Movement has allowed women to share their stories and struggles, many women including Tarana Burke who is the founder of the movement, feel that the movement has lost its way as well. Some believe the movement has gotten too big and has no narrative. It went from lifting women up to being about dramatizing situations which Tarana talks about in an interview that she did with The Cut, Tarana Burke's Interview on the #MeToo movement. Burke says, "That in the year since the movement began, she’s observed an unwavering obsession with the perpetrators — a cyclical circus of accusations, culpability, and indiscretions. In part, Burke blames the media for latching onto every salacious detail in stories from #MeToo survivors. She also blames a culture that’s prone to fixate on high drama".  

Due to the media's take on how they portray victims stories, some argue that it creates a rift in the relationship between men and women. Actor Sean Penn was doing an interview were he was asked about his feelings on the #MeToo Movement. Within the Sean Penn interview he mentions how he as well as fellow actors feel as if the movement is hurting the relationships with men and women. He states  “Well, we don’t know what’s a fact in many of the cases. Salacious is as soon as you call something a movement that is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded. The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women. I don’t want it to be a trend, and I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed onto, in great stridency and rage, and without nuance". He believes that we are living in a time of outrage.

The fact of matter is not all the time you know everything that happened to someone during their assault. In the article they discussed how people rush to make rash decisions and could end up ruining someone's life. Now of course this is not always the case people do unfortunately sexually assault others and people know that, but in today's society they will turn it into a whole rage and blast you on all social media outlets.

Once one is accused of sexual assault, there is no going back from the stigma that is around someone accusing you. In an article done by NPR, it discusses how the #MeToo Movement has gone too far. They point out in NPR's Article "Several respondents cited a rush to judgment, the prospect of unproven accusations ruining peoples' careers or reputations, and a bandwagon effect that may prompt some to claim sexual misconduct for behavior that doesn't quite rise to that level.On whether alleged victims of sexual assault should get the benefit of the doubt, 85 percent of Democrats agree, compared to 67 percent of Republicans. That party gap is nearly twice the size of the gender gap".

Men feel as if the #MeToo does not involve them. Men do get sexually assaulted as well, not as much as women but it still happens. There is this whole stigma around men who are sexually assaulted so they just don't talk about it. With this movement we should be welcoming people no matter their race or gender. Some people believe this movement is dividing men and women to the point where men can't even has a say about the movement or share their stories.

In an article with Market Times, they touch on how many women are the ones being accused of sexually assaulting someone else. Asia Argento, one of the women who are vocal about holding powerful men accountable for their actions was accused of paying off a man who says she sexual assaulted in California.  The MarketWatch Article made it clear that no matter what “Sexual harassment is first and foremost an abuse of power, whether it’s a priest in the Catholic Church or a woman”. Granted most of the stories we hear nowadays is a man assaulting a women but men should be apart of this movement regardless if they have a story to share or not.

The #MeToo Movement does a good job of letting people's voices be heard but are they the right ones? Many people feel as if the movement only emphasizes what happens in Hollywood and to stars in the social limelight. The #MeToo Movement lacks diversity. The movement looks different to people of color ad they feel left out. HuffPost Article did and article on the way women of color feel about this movement and their stances on it. 


Women of color are the most likely to be sexually assaulted. HuffPost spoke with a number of women about how harassment and assault perpetrated against people of color can often involve fetishization, objectification based on race or ethnicity, and a host of other issues white women might not face, even as the victims are less likely to be believed. There is also a lack of representation within the movement. Some people call it a "White Women's Movement". Many the only people you see talking about this in the news are women who majority of them are white and have different social or economic backgrounds than women of color.

The working class tends to be left out of these discussions. Most assaults do not happen to people who are wealthy and don't have a voice. Most of it is under reported because people could have a lot to lose, their jobs which could be there only source of income for many.  In the article done by USA Today  it point out what women in the working out face and how they feel about the movement as well. "But some critics say women of color and those in lower-wage jobs have been largely left out of the conversation. Though the #MeToo hashtag was created by a black woman more than a decade ago, the faces of the cause have often been white and affluent, and the industries receiving the most media scrutiny have been the rarefied worlds of Hollywood and TV journalism. And yet it is black women in particular and female employees of restaurants, factories and other blue-collar workplaces who bear the brunt of sexual harassment and abuse".

The #MeToo Movement has its ups and downs just like anything in life. People will doubt this moment and the morals of it. But one thing to be mindful of if this whole movement has gotten people to talk and take action and say this is not okay and it won't and will not be tolerated in today's society. More people have come out and told their stories which for some people they kept for a life time and were finally able to lift that weight off of their shoulders and have people listen and understand them. But the movement has created more problems than needed that I think it's time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture and see what the true motives of the movement are.