Feature by Kerrie Draghi
Unless you were living under a rock during the year 2017, you would surely have come across the #MeToo movement on your laptop, TV or smartphone. Although the movement was founded in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, it found mainstream popularity in 2017 thanks to a tweet by actress Alyssa Milano. Milano and her Charmed co-star, Rose Mcgowan, were among one of the many high-profile actresses to accuse film producer Harvey Weinsten of sexual assault, along with several other celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. Seemingly overnight, the MeToo movement went global and became a way to show solidarity and support for survivors of sexual assault.
The MeToo movement, importantly, had a positive impact on how we discuss the problem of sexual violence in society and how seriously it is depicted in the media (think of the many movies we loved growing up, that we can now see had unequal sexual-gender dynamics.) It raised awareness on the seriousness of sexual assault and other forms of gendered abuse, which had previously been ignored or made into a joke. The movement also encouraged many countries and governments to update their sexual harassment laws. For example, the UK Equality Act was revised to require employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in their workforces.
There was also a French MeToo, especially within the literary world. Most notably, Vanessa Springora published her book Consent where she detailed how Gabriel Matzneff, once a very respected French writer, sexually abused her as a child, and the literary scene at the time allowed him to do so. More generally, women in our everyday lives felt empowered to discuss our experiences of sexual violence and advocate for an end to rape culture in society. We created zines, art, social media posts and our own movements inspired by the women in the public eye we saw doing the same.
The impact of MeToo shouldn’t be brushed aside. However, there is still so much more that hasn’t been achieved to improve women’s rights.
In 1993, Journalist Susan Faludi wrote in her non-fiction book Backlash about how each time there is an acceptance of feminism and women’s rights in society, a backlash will shortly follow claiming women’s rights have gone too far and feminism (not patriarchy) is actually the reason why women’s lives are unjust. I believe that we are currently living in a time of feminist backlash. To name just a few examples, the mainstream rise of incel ‘influencers’ such as Andrew Tate, who tell young boys that violent misogyny is the way to be a man, and some of the famous men who were previously outed as abusers are now coming back into the spotlight and being welcomed.
On top of this, a recent report by King’s College London shows that young Gen Z men hold more sexist “traditional” views about women (such as that women should obey their husbands and should not initiate sex) than their grandparents in the ‘Boomer’ age range currently do. Additionally, 9 in 10 girls and young women in schools have experienced sexist name calling or received unsolicited images of a sexual nature.
Almost ten years after the height of #MeToo, survivors still find it incredibly difficult to speak out about their experiences and be believed. According to statistics from Rape Crisis England and Wales, 5 in 6 women and 7 in 8 men who are raped don’t report it to the police.
Jennifer M. Piscopo, Professor of Gender and Politics & Director of the Gender Institute at Royal Holloway University says on the topic: “#MeToo did a tremendous job raising awareness around sexual violence and many countries and subnational governments changed their laws in response. Yet legal measures cannot substitute for, and they will not work without, broader attitudinal and behavioural changes.”
“Ten years on from MeToo, what lags is a real commitment from everyday people to do the work to root out the misogyny that lies at the heart of violence against women and girls. Too often, even well-meaning people overlook harmful jokes or evidence of abuse, because it’s ‘too awkward’ to step in. The safety of women and girls will depend on society as a whole being willing to do the hard, even uncomfortable, work of standing up to sexual abuse, extending help to survivors, and sanctioning perpetrators.”
In conclusion, there is still a long way to go before violence against women, which includes sexual violence, domestic abuse and femicide among other gender-based crimes, is taken seriously enough in our society and reflected in our laws. However, the impact of MeToo shouldn’t be discounted, as it has done a lot to help survivors and wake up the public to the prevalance of sexual violence.
The MeToo movement should be seen as an ongoing fight, not something that we can afford to leave ten years ago. Especially now, in our current period of feminist backlash.
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