#METOO #TIMESUP
Throughout the years, social injustices have begun to amass strong groups of vocal supporters who work to fight for equality on different platforms. Recently, women’s rights and sexual harassment have gained thousands of supporters from all walks of life.
The Me Too Movement was started in 2006 by Tarana Burke who created the movement to let women know that they are not alone and that their sexual harassment does not go unnoticed. Stars like Alyssa Milano then began to encourage people to tweet #metoo to allow people to see just how many are affected by sexual harassment and how big of a problem that it is. Lately there have been many examples of sexual harassment within the media. Accusations of sexual violence have been thrown in all sorts of ways, filling the media with the hashtag #metoo.
In November of 2017, a letter was published in Time magazine in response to the women who had stood out against Harvey Weinstein voiced the suppressed words of 70,000 women. Later, more women, especially stars, signed the letter and started working towards a platform that allowed for sexual harassment to be faced head on. At this year’s Golden Globe Awards, several stars, especially women, wore black and brought guests with them who could help advance the Me Too Movement. Following the Golden Globes, stars attended the Grammys in all white or wearing white roses.
Haleigh Parrish shared why this movement is important to her, saying that “the me too movement is important to me because it sheds light on something important that many women face in the workforce but are too afraid to come forward with. It’s a movement that is empowering women and men alike who face sexual harassment and rape culture, allowing them to have power over the situations that have happened to them and taking power away from the abusers. For me, it may make someone who thinks they have power over me think twice about contributing to harassment”.
By creating a public stance on the issues, women are being empowered and are working towards equality through the resolution of issues regarding harassment. Being a women does not equate to being a minority and the members of the Me Too movement are working towards ridding the world of inequality.
Written by Jordan Osborne
