Women’s voices are finally being heard
Sexual harassment and assault aren’t new. Campaigns that address sexual harassment and assault aren’t new, either. Women have been trying to get people to listen to us about this issue for decades.
In that sense, the #MeToo campaign is no different than all the attempts that came before it — except that this time, an unprecedented number of sexual harassers are facing the consequences of their actions.
The success of the #MeToo campaign is one of the top news stories of 2017 — and it’s about time. While #MeToo is neither the beginning nor the end of the story, it’s cathartic to see the magnitude of women’s sexual harassment and assault being recognized through the en masse dismissal of sexual predators.
I wrote several columns about sexual harassment before I left Victoria to attend law school in Toronto, and one of them is reprinted below. But honestly, columns on this subject could have been written every day since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century.
The problem is not new; what is new is the attention being paid, finally, to the damage that sexual harassers do, and the push to call these men — and they are overwhelmingly, though not universally, men — to account.
Coined by social activist Tarana Burke back in 2006, the phrase “Me Too” became popularized several months ago by actor Alyssa Milano in an attempt to publicize and legitimize women’s experiences of sexual harassment and assault. Women’s voices are so often ignored, deflected or devalued on this issue — and yet the sheer number of women and men who have echoed “Me Too” over the past few months has had some impressive results.
The point of the #MeToo movement is to draw attention to just how many women and men are affected by sexual harassment and assault.
Why do we need to draw attention to this? If you’re surprised by the number of people who have come forward, you’ve not only not been paying attention, but also must honestly believe that women are inherently liars. The fall of film executive Harvey Weinstein appears to have ushered in a new approach to sexualassault allegations: For perhaps the first time, news outlets and movie studios believe it is better for their bottom line to fire major stars than to ignore the allegations against them. Sayonara, Spacey! Au revoir, O’Reilly!
Is it hugely depressing to wake up every day to see that yet another beloved celebrity has been accused of sexual harassment or assault? You bet! But that’s not the fault of those coming forward with their stories — that’s the fault of those men who chose to use their power and privilege to abuse, harass, exploit and intimidate those around them.
It’s depressing that the problem is so widespread, but it’s encouraging to see, finally, that women’s voices are being taken seriously instead of being swept under the rug, lest they tarnish a famous man’s legacy.
It’s hard to tell why #MeToo is having an unprecedented effect, but commentators more knowledgeable than myself have suggested that perhaps it’s a necessary reaction to living in the age of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Those who experience sexual harassment and assault keep silent for all sorts of reasons — shame, fear of not being believed, fear of harming relationships, fear for their careers, fear for their reputations — but in 2017, we live with the knowledge that a man who bragged about sexually harassing women was elected to the American presidency.
For many people, that moment crystallized a cold, hard truth: Too many people, for whatever reason, do not take the sexual harassment and abuse of women seriously.
With #MeToo, those who have experienced sexual harassment and assault refuse to make peace with a world that insulates abusers from the consequences of their actions. But we have a long way to go. Women are still being harassed — by men they work with, by men they work for and by strangers on the street or the subway.
A case in point: I am completing my articles of clerkship with a corporate law firm in Toronto.
On the morning of my interview with the firm, I got onto the subway in the financial district. A man who had been sitting a few seats away got up, sat down in the seat next to me, and began to whisper sexually suggestive things in my ear.
I was wearing a suit. It was a Monday morning. What the hell.