On Twitter over the weekend, women began sharing stories of sexual harassment and assault using the hashtag #MeToo in an effort to illustrate the magnitude and commonplaceness of the problem across many corners of society. As the New York Times explains, the hashtag campaign appears to have taken off following a tweet on Sunday from actress Alyssa Milano though she did not actually suggest the hashtag itself.
If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 15, 2017
Since then, a flood of tweets have followed from celebrities like Evan Rachel Wood, Lady Gaga, some with simply the words "Me too," and others telling the outlines of stories of abuse, assault, or harassment. San Francisco Animal Care and Control officer Officer Edith also chimed in, writing, "I reported it, I was forced to work alone with him and then he got promoted over me."
The Guardian reports that the campaign now has collected the tweets of over 30,000 women and counting. The campaign comes after a week in which dozens of women came forward with stories of harassment and assault over decades by Hollywood power player Harvey Weinstein.
Because I was shamed and considered a "party girl" I felt I deserved it. I shouldnt have been there, I shouldn't have been "bad" #metoo
— #EvanRachelWould (@evanrachelwood) October 16, 2017
Me too https://t.co/ScX67Kmmiy
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) October 15, 2017
yet to meet a woman who doesn't have a sexual harassment story to tell. #MeToo
— 3d (@amritha_3d) October 16, 2017
— xoxo, Gaga (@ladygaga) October 15, 2017
Me too
— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) October 15, 2017
“I wish women didn’t have to rip our pasts open & let you ogle our pain for you to believe us.” —Lindy West #MeToo
— Nikki Senecal (@stitchbeetch) October 16, 2017
#MeToo. I reported it, I was forced to work alone with him and then he got promoted over me.
— Officer Edith (@OfficerEdith) October 16, 2017
Some men have been participating as well, both as the voices of allies, and gay men like Broadway actor Javier Munoz, the current lead in Hamilton.
Me too. I don’t know if means anything coming from a gay man but it’s happened. Multiple times.
— Javier Muñoz (@JMunozActor) October 15, 2017
I wanted to post this, But I felt as a gay man it wouldn’t mean as much
— Chapman Chase (@Bruh19955) October 16, 2017
I was 16. I was drugged. Still haunts me. #MeToo #ItHappensToGuyToo
Men,
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) October 16, 2017
Don't say you have a mother, a sister, a daughter...
Say you have a father, a brother, a son who can do better.
We all can.#MeToo
As Vice notes, Milano starred alongside Rose McGowan on the TV series Charmed, and McGowan spurred headlines last week after having her Twitter account suspended following an online dustup with Ben Affleck whom McGowan accused of lying with regard to his own knowledge of Weinstein's harassment of and assaults on women dating back to the late '90s.
Twitter says it suspended McGowan's account after she posted a screenshot of an email that contained a Hollywood executive assistant's contact information. Her account was then quickly un-suspended.
McGowan herself chimed in with a #MeToo post on Sunday, posting a quote from activist and lecturer Jackson Katz regarding the frequent use of the passive voice when talking about rape and assault "We talk about how many women were raped last year, not about how many men raped women," Katz writes.
#metoo pic.twitter.com/jHPYgsWCEw
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 16, 2017
Related: Twitter Says Rose McGowan Suspended Over Tweeted Phone Number, Lifts Ban