#MeToo hashtag raises awareness but falls short on creating action to combat racism and sexism
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Over the weekend and into this week, women on social media responded to actress Alyssa Milano’s call to write “me too” if they have ever experienced sexual harassment and abuse. Because sexism, misogyny and abuse of women are commonplace in our society#MeToo hashtag raises awareness but falls short on creating action to combat racism and sexism
Over the weekend and into this week, women on social media responded to actress Alyssa Milano’s call to write “me too” if they have ever experienced sexual harassment and abuse. Because sexism, misogyny and abuse of women are commonplace in our society, Twitter feeds and Facebook timelines were inundated with survivor stories. From Milano’s initial tweet, its unclear what the real intention of this call to action was. Presumably, it was her hope that by seeing millions of women publicly admit that they’ve experienced sexual violence at the hands of men, it would raise awareness of this important issue. Awareness is great, if and when it turns into action. But there are many problematic aspects to this kind of hashtag that are being unnamed and unheard because of the excitement surrounding it. Though Milano is receiving credit for starting this hashtag, she is 10 years behind the “Me Too” campaign begun by Tarana Burke. This campaign was actually started not to call attention and awareness to sexual violence but instead to let sexual assault survivors in marginalized communities know that they were not alone. A black woman named Tarana Burke is the original creator of the #MeToo campaign that has recently taken over social media. Burke, founder of youth organization Just Be Inc., created the “Me Too” campaign in 2007 long before hashtags even existed. The 44-year-old told Ebony Magazine that she created the campaign as a grass-roots movement to reach sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities. “It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow,” Burke told Ebony on Monday. “It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible.” Part of what is troubling here is how the labor and activism of black women routinely gets erased, or confused for the work of white women. This matters. It matters because there is a long history of white women appropriating the work of black women and women of color and not giving them credit for the emotional, mental, and physical labor that goes into that work. It is routine and especially frequent in the feminist movement—where black women are often told to ignore racism (especially the racism they experience at the hands of white women) and see sexism and patriarchy as a bigger threat to their well-being. Did Alyssa Milano know that this campaign existed before her tweet? Maybe or maybe not. Likely not (she did tweet about this later). And this isn’t specifically about Milano. But the fact that this work is being credited to her and it took other black women to speak up and lift up Burke’s work (despite it being available on the Internet) is telling about how black women’s activism consistently escapes the public’s attention. Read more