People, in general, enjoy drama. It does not matter whether the drama is related to them or not. Regardless if it is good or bad, drama is exciting to watch and easy to become attached to, as if it has been your story all along.
Some drama is irritable to watch after a story becomes heavily centered on a problem for too long, and sometimes it suddenly becomes a trending topic for the sake of famous people’s platforms.
The #MeToo movement is a social media campaign in which sexual assault survivors quote in the form of a hashtag to show others who have been sexually assaulted they are not alone, and to show the magnitude of how many people are sexually assaulted.
This also has quickly become a topic of interest within the world of the elite celebrities, and made its astounding journey through social media and is now, essentially, everywhere – Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and more.
According to an article from Jonathan Borge at Instyle, the “woman responsible” for this movement is activist Tarana Burke who started it in 2006. However, the movement only gained traction after actress Alyssa Milano’s tweet went viral in 2017. From then, it became a topic which only grew in popularity, and is still large today.
The fame of the movement grew as allegations against Harvey Weinstein began to pile up, and as more celebrities voiced their sexual assault stories and threw their power behind the #MeToo movement.
The movement was quite monumental in the beginning. Many women and men came forward to share their stories and offer support to anyone in need. However, it only recently became something talked about, and for people with huge platforms to decide to speak up about.
The prickle of annoyance from the movement is not for the movement itself, but how long it took people to notice, take the time to look around, make the choice to listen, and to act against sexual assault and for the victims.
According to the statistics from Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an American, man or woman, is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds. Every 98 seconds someone, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation and social class, is sexually assaulted.
Tarana Burke raised her voice in 2006, yet hardly anyone remembers hearing her, much less credits her for starting the movement. While Alyssa Milano did credit Burke, the point is this: listening and taking action should not be saved for those who have the platform, and decide when and how to get the act going. The idea is to listen to those who speak, regardless of their following.
Hollywood is quite glamorous, but the shiny people are not the only ones who have a story to tell. They should not be the only ones able to dictate when an issue becomes popular enough for everyone to take part in.
With words from Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune, “As many wonder what’s next for #MeToo, I say we should look away from the celebrities and toward the far less visible and less fortunate workers. They, too, are saying ‘Me too.’”
There is no special line to pass to become a victim of sexual assault or harassment, there is no popularity test for you to voice your strength against the system of sexual assault. However, this seems necessary for you to be heard, and this is annoying.