This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PS Behrend chapter.

If you ask me what first comes to mind when you mention feminism in 2019, I instantly think of #MeToo. And I would make the assumption that most people think about that. Aside from that, the hashtag did help survivors share their story and bring attention to essentially the hushed topic. But let’s cover the story and the movement and where it is today.

Popularity

I’ll start here first since the movement gained mass popularity after actress Alyssa Milano shared this tweet on October 17, 2017:

Source

With this tweet, people felt comfortable sharing their side of the story and the movement gained even more popularity when prominent figures shared their story as well.

With its popularity, a year later, 2018, the #MeToo was used more than 19 million times on Twitter alone, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center. I’ll save you the math and tell you that roughly equates to 55,000 uses of the hashtag a day.

And that was in 2018 alone, a year after that rally call tweet. So the numbers have increased since then. But the hashtag alone dates back almost two and a half years ago. That brought the movement attention but the movement starter earlier than that.

The Background

The #metoo movement was founded back in 2006 with the intent of survivors of sexual violence, particularly African American women and girls as well as lower-income women of colour, to find pathways to recovery and healing. The person who founded the movement was no other than Tarana Burke. Burke created a diverse curriculum to discuss sexual violence within the African American community, and the bigger picture was to discuss it with society at large.

Side note: If you go to Penn State Behrend, the Erie college, and/or around the Erie area, you are in for a treat! Burke is gracing her presence at the Erie college on Wednesday, April 17!! Bring your tissues as I’d imagine this whole discussion is going to get real, real quick and bring a friend! It will be something you will not want to miss!!!

The main goal of the #metoo movement is to “uplift and support each other to strengthen a global movement to interrupt sexual violence” (metoomvmt). And with the popularity gained after the hashtag, I think the goal was covered. Even if the goal is covered, doesn’t mean there is not still be work to be done and I think we can all agree on that.

Just some prominent figures who used #metoo:

-Lady Gaga (Singer/songwriter)

-Gabrielle Union (Actress and author)

-Anna Paquin (Actress, known for her role in True Blood)

-Barry Crimmins (Comedian)

Now that is just a few names, but there are so many who have come forward and made others in the general public feel more comfortable coming out with their stories. Whether you are a prominent figure in today’s society or just your average joe, it takes guts to come forward and I applaud everyone one of you brave and strong women, men, and them. Thank you for sharing, you are heard, and you are not alone.

Here are some number to reach out to:

National Sexual Hotline: 800.656.HOPE (4673)

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

Sources of info :

https://metoomvmt.org/about/#history

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/13/metoo-impact-hashtag-made-online/1633570002/

https://www.vogue.com/article/alyssa-milano-metoo-sexual-assault-campaign