Sarina Wong- #MeToo, Now What?: Ethical and Social Implications of the #MeToo Movement

09/11/2020

On October 17th, 2017, the hashtag #MeToo made headlines. Three years later, #MeToo remains newsworthy, appearing on magazine covers and as subjects of conferences and conversations. But what is #MeToo and why has it captured the public imagination for so long?

Founded in 2006, #MeToo began with social activist Tarana Burke's use of the phrase on Myspace. As a sexual assault survivor, Burke used the phrase to promote "empowerment through empathy" amongst women of colour who had experienced sexual abuse, particularly within underprivileged communities (Guerra). A decade later, the hashtag #MeToo rose to prominence after actress Alyssa Milano accused American filmmaker Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Wanting to draw attention to the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, Milano asked Twitter users to "write 'me too' as a reply to [her] tweet" if they had "been sexually harassed or assaulted" (Milano). Half a million users across over 80 countries responded in the first 24 hours and many more have spoken up since. From there, a movement for gender equality and female empowerment was born. Over 80 women have accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse. As more survivors speak out, #MeToo has seen the fall of famous male celebrities including Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore, and Matt Lauer.

Yet other high-level figures, perhaps most notably U.S. President Donald Trump, remain in power despite ties to sexual misconduct. These figures' continued influence raises the question of whether #MeToo has truly changed the social norms that enable such misconduct. Of those who believe #MeToo has changed norms, some question whether these changes have been positive. In a poll by NPR-Ipsos, 40 percent of Americans feel that the #MeToo movement has gone "too far" (Smith).

Considering these criticisms, this paper will evaluate the #MeToo movement's relationship to gender equality. To begin, this paper will define gender equality and its ethical and social importance. Then, it will examine #MeToo's impact on the perceptions of women, alongside #MeToo's effectiveness in sexual misconduct prevention. In assessing these factors, this paper suggests that while #MeToo has improved gender equality in certain contexts, it perpetuates sexism in other ways. Thus, to continue such social progress, #MeToo should adopt a new approach, one focusing on transformative justice.

What is gender equality? Why does it matter?

Gender equality refers to "the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys [and all people so that] rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female [or anywhere else on the gender spectrum]" (UN Women). In this way, gender inequality affects everyone. One in three women, for example, experiences physical or sexual violence (UN Women). Suicide is also four times more likely among men than women (UN Women, Porter). Despite the fact that women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts, men remain more likely to commit suicide due to "the way society expects [men] to behave" (UN Women, Porter). Evidence suggests that men who comply more strongly to masculine ideals consider getting psychological help to be a weakness and thus are less likely to reach out for support (Collie). Suicide attempts by men also tend to be more violent and lethal, which some experts have attributed to be a result of gender norms expecting males to be violent (Schumacher). Non-binary individuals also face challenges; in some countries, for example, their identities are not legally recognized.

Changing social norms?

#MeToo has been described as a "watershed moment" for gender equality and "one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960s" (Proulx, Felsenthal). Yet it is clear that work still needs to be done. Supereme Court canadiate Brett Kavanaugh was brought before the Senate on claims of sexual misconduct, but was found innocent and given a position of power. This suggestions that sexist and problematic norms remain prevalent. For this reason, some scholars have argued "the fact that some of the famous Big Men - like Harvey Weinstein [...] - are basically finished, does not signal a social change. Rather it simply illustrates the mechanisms of self-preservation of a system that both makes these men the way they are and then pukes them out when they become a liability" (Zarkov).

The inconsistent condemnation of those accused of sexual misconduct can be explained by the concept of "preference falsification," where one "misrepresent[s] one's genuine wants under perceived social pressures" (Kuran). People's public preferences are "based on the rewards and costs associated with their expressed choices" (Kuran). If the social reward for supporting women who speak out against their abuser is greater than the social cost, then people will support the women. Under this interpretation, the fall of certain abusers is not caused by shifting cultural norms, but by abusers' declining social power, thus establishing a lower social cost of publicly condemning their abuse, alongside a rising social reward of supporting victims. As reporter Ronan Farrow, who covered Weinstein for The New Yorker, said: "in a number of cases about high-profile men recently [...] allegations only emerged when [the abuser's] grip on power and success slipped" (Blair). This reasoning explains why Trump and Kavanaugh remain in their respective positions of power despite allegations of sexual misconduct. The general social consensus is that both these men are powerful figures with significant social capital. Speaking up against such powerful individuals would involve a significant personal social cost. As a result, there is social acceptance of Trump and Kavanaugh despite their alleged behaviour.

This questioning of whether #MeToo has changed social norms is crucial to understanding the limitations of #MeToo in promoting gender equality. If #MeToo has not changed social norms or has only temporarily shifted norms within certain social spheres, then sexism may persist under a different disguise.

Elevating Perceptions of Women - The Power of Narrative

Still, #MeToo seems to have promoted female empowerment by encouraging women to speak up against sexual misconduct. Speaking up demonstrates a reassertion of power in demanding the same freedoms as others. Speaking up and telling one's story can also "represent different perceptions of reality intended as an opposition to established knowledge," thus legitimizing a survivor's lived experiences and challenging dominant narratives about women's docility and the social acceptability of sexual misconduct (Razack). Furthermore, because women can decide if, when, and how they hashtag, those who have experienced sexual misconduct have control over their stories, and subsequently how others perceive them. This freedom to define their own narratives, and to identify not as a victim, but as a survivor, further empowers women by expanding the kinds of social roles they can inhabit.

Diminishing Perceptions of Women - Male Bylines, Moral Agency, and Fetishization

#MeToo's link to female empowerment, however, is complicated by the fact that media coverage of sexual harassment is still written mostly by men. According to the Women's Media Center, Donald Trump's name appeared more frequently than any other name in media reports of sexual assault. Trump "appeared in 1,020 headlines [....] at an average of 92 stories a month" (WMC). Yet the average number of articles mentioning Trump's accuser, Stephanie Clifford (alias Stormy Daniels) was "extremely low" (.25 average articles a day) (WMC). This focus on male perpetrators is perhaps unsurprising as "bylines remain [...] dominated by men" (WMC).

Because of the male influence in news coverage and the narratives about women that such coverage perpetuates, some critics argue that #MeToo has diminished female agency. To them, the movement "does not treat individual women as moral agents with the capacity to say no, to enjoy and pursue sex, and to do wrong" (Donegan). Instead, #MeToo perpetuates stereotypes of frail "Victorian housewives" who lack autonomy and strength (Merkin). It is because of public perceptions of female fragility that society must "condescendingly" "believe all women" as #MeToo suggests, because otherwise their claims "can't stand up to interrogation" (Weiss). Such a principle of unverified belief "unintentionally fetishizes women" such that "women are no longer human and flawed [but] truth personified" (Weiss).

To support these views, these feminists point to situations like a photoshoot for The New York Post where comedian Al Franken is pictured grabbing Arianna Huffington's buttocks and her breast. An anonymous source from the shoot said, "Arianna was pushing his hands away. He was groping her . . . She definitely told him to stop and pushed him away" (Weiss). Yet Huffington denies this, saying that "he was no more 'groping' me than I was 'strangling' him in the photo" (Weiss). According to these feminists, #MeToo has created norms and unsettling assumptions that assume Huffington is automatically a victim because of her gender.

Refutations to the Moral Agency and Fetishization Arguments

I argue here that the concerns over diminished female agency caused by #MeToo are misguided because the conception of agency posited by the diminished moral agency argument is simplistic. The ability to consent to sexual acts is not a binary but a spectrum. There are certain circumstances where one's ability to consent is compromised regardless of gender. If an employer threatens to withhold an employee's wages unless a sexual act is performed, there is an impaired ability to consent to said act, regardless of gender, because there are not enough sufficiently good alternatives. Either employees perform the act and receive pay, or else find another way to put food on the table. The issue, then, is not that women lack the ability to "just say no." The issue is that women are disproportionately placed in situations where their ability to consent is compromised.

Moreover, these derogatory attitudes toward "Victorian housewives" themselves perpetuate sexist narratives. Fulfilling the responsibilities of Victorian housewives was not easy; they were expected to manage large households, run charities, bear children without anesthesia, nurse the sick, and campaign for political reform - all while putting up the pretence of looking delicate. The assumption that such tasks were easy undervalues the work many women did and still do.

Furthermore, believing survivors, many of whom are women, is not inherently condescending; it only treats women the way most others are already treated. When someone claims something to be true, the typical response is not to dismiss the claim, but to hear the evidence. Similarly, the clause "believe all women" encourages others to listen to and engage with women's claims of sexual misconduct. The clause does not imply that all words spoken by a woman are inherently factually accurate, but rather proposes that people temporarily suspend disbelief so that claims can be fairly evaluated. As such, "believing all women" is the first step of an appropriate response, and it is not patronizing.

Diminishing Perceptions of Women - Revictimization, and Corporate Exploitation

While #MeToo may not have diminished moral agency via news coverage, it has hindered female empowerment by revictimizing survivors. By pressuring survivors to perform their victimhood by talking about their sexual misconduct experiences on social media, survivors are unfairly held responsible for freeing society of abuse and assault. As a rape survivor wrote: "I don't know how to deal with #MeToo [...] I'm feeling triggered and angry. Social media is a big part of my job, so I can't just turn it off [...] I want to tell people that survivors don't owe them their stories [...] I feel like everything I've gone through has been reduced down to a hashtag so that it can trend on social media" (Orteg).

Moreover, the reduction of survivors' experiences to a "social media trend" perpetuates the corporate exploitation of women. Companies have historically used the female form to increase profits and the appeal of products and brands without regard to women's interests. Women's bodies, for example, have been objectified in advertisements to sell everything from soap to burgers. Similarly, some uses of the hashtag #MeToo to tell survivors' stories have been used to increase the appeal of journalists or media outlets without regard to survivors or women as a whole. An example of this is the website Babe.net's clumsy news coverage of an alleged sexual assault of an anonymous 23-year-old by prominent male comedian Aziz Ansari. Babe.net was criticized for its unnecessary comments about the 23-year-old's wine choices and outfit, along with the "prurient and unnecessarily macabre interest in the minute details of their [sexual] interaction which ultimately left the 23-year-old open to further criticisms [on the veracity of her allegations]" (Shepherd).

Diminishing Perceptions of Women - Who Is Perceived?

The question of #MeToo also raises the question - me, who? The voices of members of working class, radicalized, Indigenous, queer, transgender, disabled and incarcerated people, alongside sex workers, are often left out in conversations on gender equality -- even though they are more likely to experience sexual misconduct. Racialized women, for example, are overrepresented in industries with the most sexual harassment claims, including hospitality and retail (Durana). These jobs also tend to be lower-paid, and financial instability increases vulnerability to abuses of power (Durana). Similarly, sex workers face increased risks for sexual misconduct due to the nature of their work, while, according to the UN, female prisoners face pervasive sexual misconduct from U.S. male corrections officers (ACLU). Women with disabilities are often perceived to be asexual or less sexually desirable and thus incorrectly considered impervious to sexual misconduct. These individuals experience sexual violence at a high rate, yet they are sidelined in #MeToo discussions.

Female Empowerment: Sexual Assault and Misconduct Prevention

Supporters of the #MeToo movement often argue that the movement decreases sexual misconduct. To them, the public downfall and shaming of perpetrators demonstrates that sexual harassment is socially unacceptable, thus deterring misconduct. Furthermore, they argue that #MeToo has increased reports of sexual assault, both to authorities and over social media, which increases the chances of perpetrators being removed from the public. Therefore, through the deterrence and removal of perpetrators, some argue that #MeToo has made society safer for women.

However, there are several issues with this approach towards prevention. First is the focus on specific perpetrators instead of systems. As feminist actress Mayim Bialik argued in The New York Times, "society [...] has treated women as disposable playmates for far longer than Mr. Weinstein has been meeting ingénues in luxury hotel rooms" (Bialik). Weinstein's abuse of power was despicable, but his actions were common knowledge in the entertainment industry. By knowing and failing to act to protect women, the industry not only allowed abuse to happen, but set a norm that such abuse was acceptable and even almost to be expected. Sexual violence, then, must not only be understood as a result of internal motivations or moral failings, but also as a product of social institutions that perpetrate and promote violence.

#MeToo's focus on social isolation is also problematic as a means of prevention. #MeToo's call-out approach enforces passive responsibility, where perpetrators are held accountable by others through public shunning. But if a person has not taken active responsibility for the harm they have caused, such shunning is likely to cause more anger because this isolation, to them, feels unmerited. In such cases, the perpetrators are often not reformed upon release into society. Indeed, their anger can make them more likely to harm. As a New York Times journalist argued, "we pretend that these guys can simply disappear once they've been pushed out [but] they resurface elsewhere, often to prey on others. That's especially true of men who aren't famous enough to make headlines and whose career moves aren't subjected to constant scrutiny" (Baker).

#MeToo is Flawed. Now What?: The Transformative Justice Approach

The #MeToo movements attempt to further gender equality may find part of a solution in transformative justice (TJ). As a strategy for responding to conflict, TJ looks beyond the specific conflict between the victim and offender to consider the larger social context in which the offence occurs. By doing so, TJ aims to find the root causes of crimes while recognizing the autonomy and responsibility of the offender. According to TJ philosophy, for example, sexual assault within the entertainment industry is not only caused by the offender. It is in part fuelled by a lack of structures to support vulnerable individuals against abuses of power within a patriarchal society. TJ views conflict as opportunity for victims, offenders, members of their community and the social structures in which they exist to be transformed for the better.

One TJ approach for transformation involves bringing community members together in "Circles of Support" to heal, forgive, and take accountability. These Circles can take various forms, such as connecting victims with other victims for mutual support and healing, or connecting past abusers with one another to help them develop their consciousness and assisting one another in dispelling the impulse to abuse again. If the parties are ready, community justice circles can also bring victims and perpetrators together to discuss their experiences and determine what actions can be done to repair and prevent future harm. Such actions may include payment from the offender to the victim or community, apologies, as well as personal changes such as therapy or community changes. Community changes, following the TJ principle of looking at systems rather than only individuals, can include education and advocacy for people beyond the victims and perpetrators. In the context of #MeToo, community changes can look like the implementation of new policies for accountability and education for the members of the entertainment industry who enabled or covered up the abuse, or advocacy work on correlating sociocultural factors like a sexism in the media. Through these processes, TJ gives survivors more control over their stories and futures, by enabling their participation in the transformative process. Because TJ consists of private discussion, there is also less social pressure to perform victimhood. The transformative approach encourages perpetrators to take active responsibility and avoid further harm. In these ways, TJ is more likely to be effective in sexual misconduct prevention than #MeToo's current modus operandi.

There are, however, limitations to TJ. Perpetrators may not want to change, and survivors may not want to participate in such an emotionally intense process. TJ interventions "can [also] be mishandled and will perhaps always be imperfect. At their worst they can be performative slaps on the wrist for human rights abusers; at their best they can lead to truly transformative accountability, reparations and healing" (Davis).

Conclusion

In examining #MeToo's impact on female empowerment, there is clearly room for improvement. This paper has identified how, despite the efforts of #MeToo, the movement has perpetuated problematic perceptions of women and their ability to be autonomous moral agents who shape their own futures. Part of this issue stems from male-dominated media coverage, which has hindered women's ability to tell their stories and continues the legacy of the corporate exploitation of women. Even amongst feminists, the diminished moral agency and fetishization arguments demonstrate how sexism has not disappeared, but taken another form, as suggested by the concept of preference falsification. Meanwhile, #MeToo's focus on individuals rather than systems may make perpetrators of sexual misconduct more dangerous. To address some of these issues, this paper has proposed a transformative justice approach over #MeToo's current modus operandi. A transformative justice approach would empower survivors to tell their stories, and promote justice, healing and sexual misconduct prevention. Perhaps, then, it is no surprise that, in many ways, the framework of transformative justice mirrors Tarana Burke's original vision for #MeToo: "empowerment through empathy."

Appendix

Because TJ is a community-based approach and the needs of each community are different, this paper will not attempt to dictate what a transformative system would look like for all instances of sexual misconduct. Instead, this appendix provides some guiding questions and links to resources. Please note that the questions below are only the starting point for a fuller discussion on how to work towards female empowerment. Feel free to expand upon more topics as you reflect upon your community's needs.

What does #MeToo need to change? Where is harm occurring to women in our communities?

Media

How can we better include and represent the voices of women, especially minority women?
How can the media more respectfully tell the stories of women with consideration for women's' interests?
What might #MeToo look like on social media if the transformative approach is adopted?

Legal and community changes

What types of relationships are needed for people to be able to enjoy fuller capacity for autonomy? How can communities and the law encourage these relationships?
How can communities support survivors in their daily lives?
What might a transformative justice system look like within various contexts including workplaces, schools, courts and more, given the pervasiveness of sexual misconduct and harassment?

Education

How can we teach children better, more respectful ways to interact with each other and resolve issues?
How can education help expand the imagination of who girls and women are and can be?

What do you need to change?

What can you do now in daily life to promote gender equality?

Transformative Justice Resources

https://www.phillystandsup.com/tj.html
https://www.creative-interventions.org/ and their Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence available here https://www.creative-interventions.org/tools/toolkit/
https://www.stopviolenceeveryday.org/
Transformative Justice: A Curriculum Guide (Fall 2013). A Project NIA Collaboration. https://niastories.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/tjcurriculum_design_small-finalrev.pdf
Philly Stands Up https://phillystandsup.wordpress.com/
INCITE! https://incite-national.org/resources-for-organizing/

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