Are you kidding me? A hashtag? Have we resulted to using a hashtag to cover the array of sexual violence that has occurred for decades to our generation? Are we going to go with the likes of #ManCrushMonday and #OutfitoftheDay to push for social justice? Because what happened to me cannot be summed up in a tweet, or a blog, or a post. I have to admit, when the #MeToo craze hit the web and radio and every media outlet, I was enraged. I turned it all off with an eye roll and angry growl. Now, I know I was wrong.
It has taken me a bit to step back and see the impact that #MeToo has had. Initially, it felt like a token bandaid from a sympathetic nurse to cover up a gaping, festering wound. It felt ridiculous and silly and insignificant. I saw a symbolic line of women with post-it notes over their mouths that said: “Me too.” I wanted to rip off the gag orders they had shielded themselves with and scream “Say more! Do more! Tell us what happened!”
Because let me tell you, the crimes that happened to the #MeToo crowd cannot be summed up in two syllables.
Some days, I don’t notice it. Some days, like when I am walking out to my car when it’s dark, it’s like he never left. It’s like he is still standing over me telling me that I can’t stop him, and I run like hell to my car. Some days, it feels like I am handcuffed to an awful man from my past who thinks he can overpower me. The worst part? I don’t even know his name. At least then, if I knew his name, he would be identifiable. So, no, #MeToo didn’t speak to me. But it was a heck of a lot more powerful than my first glance judgment.
You know when you turn a light on in a dilapidated, abandoned home and all the disgusting cockroaches run and hide? THAT is what #MeToo did for the victims. It shined a bright, necessary light onto the vermin that think it’s okay to take without asking. People began to come forward in droves to expose their villains. Politicians, famous actors, and many others were exposed to the world as predators… and perhaps #MeToo had a part in leading the calvary.
#MeToo wasn’t a superhero coming to save the day, and it was naive of me to think of it as such. #MeToo was a unification of victims coming forward to say:
“This is real. This has happened. We are stronger together, and we will not be hidden within the past anymore.”
It also serves as an example to anyone else who considers crossing the line. There is a voice now. We are not nearly as timid as we used to be, and it will not go unnoticed any longer. Thank you #MeToo for giving strength to me, my friends, strangers and for shedding a light so that my children may never have to experience the wounds that I have.
I guess its better late than never right?
#MeFreakingToo #BecauseIamStillAngry
