Although this expression was coined in 2006 by American activist Tarana Burke, it was only in October 2017 that the hashtag “Me too” was spread to all corners of the world by American actress and producer Alyssa Milano after posting on her Twitter: “If every woman sexually harassed writes “Me too” in your state, perhaps people will understand the magnitude of the problem, ”she wrote ten days after The New York Times published an article titled“ Harvey Weinstein Paid to Address Sexual Harassment Complaints. ” The truth is that public condemnations of dozens of women who accused the producer of stalking them saved Burke’s line, causing an avalanche that took over a hundred famous names in Hollywood, as was the case with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. Uma Thurman and she encouraged many other anonymous women in all parts of the world who somehow already felt themselves to be victims of this type of aggression to speak up.
THE GREAT VICTORY OF THE MOVEMENT The idea behind the tweet was to encourage women to show solidarity with each other, especially when it comes to cases of sexual harassment. The weight and proportions of the mechanism were such that such big names in the Hollywood industry as Ben Affleck, James Franco, Jamie Foxx, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and many others began to be mentioned.
Two months later, Time magazine named women and men who denounced harassment cases “Person of the Year”, congratulating them on “breaking the silence” and “influencing” their anger on sexual assault around the world.
70 women accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault to one degree or another – four people accused him of rape, including Rose McGowan. The producer has been serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault in New York since last year, and on July 20 he was transferred to Los Angeles, where he will have to answer for other alleged sex crimes against five women in a second trial. up to 140 years in prison, outside of New York.
“I AM A MOVEMENT IDIOT TOO” But while few women admit that they do not identify with the movement (perhaps they are also out of fear of condemnation), there are examples of famous names in music, film or literature who have done so without fear of reprisals. The most recent case is the pianist Yujia Wang, who went from being a child prodigy in China to a famous classical music star in the United States. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, where the artist admits that she spent most of the pandemic without touching and that she has already given up understanding of American politics, Wang is also asked about her vision of the Me Too feminist movement and how it meets in the world of classical music. “About this and other culturally related racial movements, I want to say that I will not grieve or blame others for my own misfortune. It is sad. My biggest regret is what happened to director Woody Allen, the pursuit of him. We can’t even watch your last movie in America! “, – answered the artist, defending that this is how the doors to culture are closed, and admitting that this reminds her of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. “I think this step is idiotic! If you do not want to be with someone – give up and that’s it! I really don’t know if I should say this! “, – he concluded.
“KIND OF PURITANISM” In 2018, French actress and beauty icon Catherine Deneuve already shared her views on the feminist movement with the public in an open letter titled “We Defend Freedom of Persecution, Indispensable for Sexual Freedom,” published in the French newspaper Le Monde. and written by about 100 women, including writers, artists and scholars such as the French curator, art critic and writer Catherine Millet and the German singer and film actress Ingrit Caven.
In the letter, female personalities argued that “rape is a crime,” but that “persistent or uncomfortable flirting is not a crime, and flirting is not sexist aggression,” classifying the #MeToo movement as a kind of “puritanism”. 100 women denounce anti-sexual harassment movements as “totalitarian” and “repressive,” which ultimately lead to a “witch hunt” in which a wave of “fast-track justice” becomes public and condemns personal and personal experiences. The text says that “the public accusation campaign put people who made mistakes from time to time into the same category as sex offenders, while the only thing they did was touch their knee, tried to steal a kiss, talked about “Intimate” things at dinner. work, or sending messages with sexual connotations to a woman whose feelings were not mutual. “
The signatories also believe that the reach of the movement “suppresses the sexual expression and freedom of every person.” After describing publishers’ requests to make male characters “less sexist” and a Swedish bill that requires people to explicitly consent before engaging in sex, women write: “A little more and two adults who want to sleep together will first have to check on their mobile an application for participation that details the methods that everyone accepts or rejects. ” One of the authors’ arguments is that instead of empowering women, the #MeToo movement and the #BalanceTonPorc movement in France serve the interests of “enemies of sexual freedom, religious extremists, the worst reactionaries” and those who believe that women are “separate beings, children who look like adults, requiring protection. ” According to the text, “a woman can lead a professional team on the same day and enjoy being a” man’s sexual object “without being a” slutty woman “or” a dastardly complicit in the patriarchy. “
