The #MeToo hashtag should give all men a sense of dread. Suddenly, they’re vulnerable to charges of harassment, groping, or even rape -- from a time when they didn’t know any better.
No one, it would seem, is immune. Film producers, network executives, politicians, news anchors – the list keeps growing.
Perhaps we should be grateful to Harvey Weinstein. However repugnant his treatment of women, it has made it possible for women all over the world to talk about their experiences at the hands of men (that’s both a pun and an indictment) that they have, until now, suppressed. Or repressed.
“I am a rape survivor,” a woman named Brenda wrote in an online petition. “I used to be ashamed to say those words. Not anymore. For almost 20 years, after I was gang-raped by four men, I lived in fear. In the recent past, I’ve shared my story and committed my life to fighting back.”
A professional counsellor and psychology professor told me, “I could tell within the first five minutes whether a woman had been sexually abused. A woman could function just fine, but it was always there and would be for the rest of her life.”