Tarana Burke The #MeToo campaign is causing a revolution, and I want to make sure that the other, huge percentage of women impacted by these sexual predators are not forgotten. I call us the "#MeNeither women." Read on!
In October of last year, the online #MeToo campaign went viral on international social media sites. The hashtag phrase was created by Tarana Burke, an African American civil rights activist, who coined it in 2006 to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in the culture. Last fall, white actress and activist Alyssa Milano boosted the signal by posting a message on her Twitter account, encouraging survivors of sexual harassment and assault to post #metoo as a status update. She did this as a supportive response to the actresses who were coming forward with their stories of harassment and assault by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
In October of last year, the online #MeToo campaign went viral on international social media sites. The hashtag phrase was created by Tarana Burke, an African American civil rights activist, who coined it in 2006 to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in the culture. Last fall, white actress and activist Alyssa Milano boosted the signal by posting a message on her Twitter account, encouraging survivors of sexual harassment and assault to post #metoo as a status update. She did this as a supportive response to the actresses who were coming forward with their stories of harassment and assault by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Some of the Weinstein accusers t#MeToo marks a cultural watershed. In a nutshell, women are being believed.
Suddenly immediate action is being taken to remove and replace these predators, without the women needing to win a case in court. For decades powerful men have gotten away with rape and harassment, because they could count on their victims having fewer resources and connections. They could tie up these women in court for decades with costly litigation, as well as smearing their names and destroying their careers. In fact, Weinstein hired private security agencies to collect information on the women who accused him and the journalists trying to expose the allegations. These agencies included Black Cube, a business run largely by former officers of Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies, with branches all over the world. According to the New Yorker Magazine:
Suddenly immediate action is being taken to remove and replace these predators, without the women needing to win a case in court. For decades powerful men have gotten away with rape and harassment, because they could count on their victims having fewer resources and connections. They could tie up these women in court for decades with costly litigation, as well as smearing their names and destroying their careers. In fact, Weinstein hired private security agencies to collect information on the women who accused him and the journalists trying to expose the allegations. These agencies included Black Cube, a business run largely by former officers of Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies, with branches all over the world. According to the New Yorker Magazine:
"Over the course of a year, Weinstein had the agencies “target,” or collect information on, dozens of individuals, and compile psychological profiles that sometimes focused on their personal or sexual histories. Weinstein monitored the progress of the investigations personally. He also enlisted former employees from his film enterprises to join in the effort, collecting names and placing calls that, according to some sources who received them, felt intimidating."
Legendary boxer Ann Wolfe, as an Amazon in Wonder Woman But in October, all of this changed. Women are being believed. We celebrate their courage as well as the international housecleaning that is going on as these predators are being fired and replaced.
But there is a hidden side of #MeToo. I call it #MeNeither, to include the victims who are currently not being included in this historic moment. Not all the victims have been assaulted or verbally harassed. In fact, the #MeNeither victims, like myself, are the ones the predators would not touch with a ten-foot pole.
But there is a hidden side of #MeToo. I call it #MeNeither, to include the victims who are currently not being included in this historic moment. Not all the victims have been assaulted or verbally harassed. In fact, the #MeNeither victims, like myself, are the ones the predators would not touch with a ten-foot pole.
I am talking about the women like myself who could not get hired or cast, because we were not considered sexually appealing to the predators-in-chief. We, the #MeNeither women, constitute a large percentage of potential hires: women of color, women with visible disabilities, women considered too tall or too big or two short or too old or too dykey or too uppity or not feminine enough.
But #MeNeither goes much further than that. These men not only fostered rape cultures in their corporate environments, but they have disseminated that rape culture around the globe, bringing it into the bedrooms and homes of consumers.
But #MeNeither goes much further than that. These men not only fostered rape cultures in their corporate environments, but they have disseminated that rape culture around the globe, bringing it into the bedrooms and homes of consumers.
The men who were/are busy raping, coercing, groping, and blackmailing their victims were/are not going to green-light any films about strong women standing up to perpetrators and winning. They were/are not going to fund narratives in which men like themselves are depicted as the bad guys. They were/are not going to foster a culture where they will be called out for their criminal appetites and activities. They did/do promote pornographic narratives where women are objectified, raped, tortured, and mutilated. They did/do promote romantic comedies where the heroine will sacrifice all to stand by her man. They aggressively have/do propagate male supremacy in their enterprises. These predators have colonized our collective imaginations.
Here is a partial list (out-of-date the day after posting!) of these mogul predators who have been busted just since October. It speaks for itself. These are men at the highest echelons of the top entertainment and media institutions in the US. Some are also in our government:
Here is a partial list (out-of-date the day after posting!) of these mogul predators who have been busted just since October. It speaks for itself. These are men at the highest echelons of the top entertainment and media institutions in the US. Some are also in our government:
- Co-producers of the Weinstein Company.
- Entertainment/film company exective (Lionsgate)
- Producer of a cable and satellite television network (Nickelodeon)
- Creator of Nickelodeon’s “The Loud House”
- Writer of HBO series (Girls)
- Chief executive of public relations firm (Webster)
- Head of a subsidiary of Amazon that focuses on developing television series, and distributing and producing films (Amazon Studios)
- Creator of “Honest Trailers” and Screen Junkies
- Head of animation at major film studio (Disney and Pixar)
- Host of popular news and talk show (The Today Show)
- Longtime television host (NBC Today Show)
- Radio producer and host (Prairie Home Companion)
- Filmmaker (Warner Brothers)
- Director of music publishing at a major studio (Disney)
- Host of popular talk show (Hardball on MSNBC)
- Manager and film producer (Atomic Blonde, etc)
- Film producer (Relativity Media)
- Agent at top entertainment agency (William Morris)
- Hollywood agent (ACA)
- Founder and CEO of an entertainment design firm (The Goddard Group)
- Writer/director and creator of hit series (Mad Men)
- Showrunner for “The Flash,” Warner Brothers
- Showrunner for One Tree Hill and The Royals,
- Senior Vice President of Booking for News and Entertainment at major network (NBC)
- Writer and filmmaker (Oliver Stone)
- American film producer and entertainment businessman (Brett Ratner)
- Screenwriter and filmmaker (James Toback)
- Comedian, writer, actor, and filmmaker (Louis CK)
- Veteran playwright (Israel Horovitz)
- Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, and filmmaker (Sherman Alexie)
- Opera Conductor (Metropolitan Opera)
- Two celebrity chefs, one the host of cooking show
- Reporter, author, and media personality associated with NBC News, MSNBC, and HBO
- Fashion photographer/filmmaker (commercials and/or ads for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, as well as his work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone )
- Author and talk show host on PBS and CBS (Charlie Rose)
- Journalist, author, public radio talk show host (John Hockenberry)
- Talk show host on PBS (Tavis Smiley)
- Two top executives of digital media and broadcasting company (VICE)
- Longtime leader of a famous ballet company (New York City Ballet)
- Publisher and power broker in art world (Artforum)
- Veteran tech blogger (Robert Scoble)
- Two movie theatre executives (Cinefamily)
- Casting employee (CSI)
- Top editor of NPR
- Editor and CEO of progressive magazine (Mother Jones)
- Founder/publisher of iconic biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture (Rolling Stone)
- Group editor of comic book publishing company (DC Comics)
- Creator of websites Curbed and Racked, employee of Vox, news and opinion website
- Former editor of liberal magazine (The New Republic)
- Publisher of liberal magazine (The New Republic)
- Star political reporter for major newspaper (New York Times)
- White House reporter (New York Times)
- News chief (NPR, also accused as employee of New York Times and Associated Press)
- Magazine executive (Billboard)
- Art director (Penguin Random House)
- Co-founder of major record company (Def Jam Recordings)
- Top editor for two major tabloid publications (National Enquirer and US Weekly)
- Two longtime hosts of major public radio station (WNYC)
- Star reporter for major magazine reporting reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. (The New Yorker)
- Children's rights campaigner and former Unicef consultant (Peter Newell)
- 3 Former Presidents
- Current President
- Kentucky House Speaker
- Florida Democratic Party Chair
- US Representative from Michigan
- Two Minnesota state lawmakers
- Staffer for Louisiana Governor
- US Senate candidate from Alabama
- So many actors: Ben Affleck, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Pivan, Andy Dick, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Seagal, Ed Westwick, Louis CK, Richard Dreyfuss, George Takei, Tom Sizemore, Jeffrey Tambor, Sylvester Stallone, TJ Miller, James Franco, Robert Knepper.
So most of these are gone or on their way out. What's next? Nature abhors a vacuum, so let's make sure that their replacements are not just "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Let's make sure that their replacements are drawn from the vast #MeNeither pool, packed with women whose talents have gone unnoticed for lack of opportunity and lack of resources. #MeNeither women have the narratives that are currently missing... and these narratives hold the promise of saving the planet.
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