#METOO ACHIEVE?

Such movements can be counterproductive, no matter how well-meaning at the start

THE #MeToo campaign has seen an unprecedented outpour of personal statements and uncomfortable confessions on social media. While this movement is growing to stratospheric proportions, what will it achieve, and for whom?

Sexual harassment and abuse, a horrible notion. Nobody should have to endure it, nobody should be allowed to inflict it, nobody should stand by in silence. Yet, the reality is different, we all knew this long before Harvey Weinstein and his casting couch got called out.

The #MeToo movement has certainly been an eye-opener for many, men and women, young and old, internationally and in Malaysia, too. It is the power of social media at its best.

However, as commendable as social media platforms may be, they are flawed. For one, this medium of global communication is very fast paced. The next scandal is waiting to erupt and flood our timelines, and while we all agree that something, many things need to change, we are one step away from being swept up by a wave of indignation at yet another social injustice and outrage.

Also, social media movements, and #MeToo is no exception, present themselves without a codified manifesto, without parameters or mandate. They risk missing the mark entirely and, therefore, render the whole exercise frivolous.

How do we classify sexual harassment and abuse? Who has a rightful claim to the #MeToo sisterhood? Does the lady who got catcalled while passing a construction site in broad daylight have the same due, the same weight, for lack of a better word, as the girl who was gang raped for hours by five men in a dark alley? Is the telling of a joke of poor taste as predatory as the gruesome groping by a trusted uncle?

The fact that millions came forward to join the movement worldwide certainly shows the magnitude of the issue. The nobility of the people posting the hashtag is not to be questioned, what it will achieve on the other hand, is.

Many groups, reputable and otherwise, have taken up that torch to make it their own, to imply that every woman has been sexually harassed, or worse, at least once in her life. To declare that everyone who states otherwise is either in denial or too scared to come forward, a traitor of sorts to the noble cause. They also imply that every man is a potential or active perpetrator.

When a movement like this takes a life of its own, when it serves many masters and none, it risks ending up doing more harm than good, as well-meaning as it may have been at its start. It risks putting rape on the same level as catcalling, trivialising certain experiences and alienating the very people it was supposed to legitimise.

There are far too many victims of sexual harassment and assault for this outcry to be hijacked by some who follow a different agenda, and ultimately, wilfully or not, dilute the issue in a bid to promote a culture of victim-hood, helpful to no one at all.

The short-lived nature of social media attention is kept alive for a fleeting moment more with spinoffs like #ihave or