#MeToo: hashtag to movement
The Me Too movement did not begin with a viral hashtag, as most people remember. In 2006, Tarana Burke, an activist, began using the term “Me Too” as a way to help sexual harassment survivors connect and offer resources for them, like mental health services and legal information. Over a decade later, the phrase became a global call to action.
After Burke coined the phrase, it took off in October of 2017, when actor Alyssa Milano started encouraging others on X, formerly known as Twitter, to use the hashtag #MeToo following the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Earlier that October, The New York Times investigated sexual assault claims and published allegations against Weinstein. Afterward, The New Yorker also published additional allegations.
Within mere hours of Milano tweeting the hashtag, it spread across different social media platforms, and everyone began sharing their own experiences with sexual assault. What originally started as a saying from Burke soon became a global conversation about sexual misconduct and survivors’ experiences.
It gained popularity so quickly because it was about more than just Hollywood’s darkest secrets. The conversation included people of all backgrounds. Eventually, as people started sharing their own personal experiences, allegations and reports of harassment and assault began to surface across many different industries, leading to a conversation about power imbalances and how our current culture upholds them.
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The movement was eventually responsible for holding people in power accountable. A couple of examples are Harvey Weinstein and Dan Snyder. Weinstein was convicted of rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to prison in 2022. Snyder had previously owned the Washington Commanders but sold the team after allegations and investigations into sexual misconduct. Afterward, Snyder was fined $60 million by the NFL after an investigation found he had sexually harassed an employee of the team.
Impact of the #MeToo movement
Eight years later, one of its biggest effects has been bringing sexual harassment into our mainstream conversation. Instead of being taboo, companies, schools, and other industries are forced to address complaints and reconsider their policies and attitudes around misconduct and harassment.
The Me Too movement also paved the way for policy change. Over half a decade after #MeToo, over 80 workplace anti-harassment bills were introduced and passed in over 24 states, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). The biggest of these is the Speak Out Act, which limits non-disclosure agreements that may impede an employee’s ability to speak about their experience. Did these changes actually solve the problem that created Me Too?
The answer is no.
Nearly 350,000 people in the United States are victims of sexual violence each year, according to experts at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Changing culture will take more than a hashtag. The Me Too movement can still help those who don’t report assault or harassment by knowing they are not alone. Tracy Schermerhorn, an employee with Genesee County Human Resources, said, “The Me Too movement gave people a chance to be more comfortable coming forward; because celebrities came out about it, it gave the average person more courage to speak out”.
Eight years after #MeToo went international, its impact has been visible in policy change and public conversation. It also helped create an environment where people feel comfortable enough to come forward and not feel ashamed. Whether the changes discussed will have a lasting impact on our culture in the future as a whole is an entirely different question.
