Social Condition
The Me Too movement has exemplified itself as a phenomenon generated by the social condition in which gender inequality was a major influence. For the case to be highlighted from the perspective of a condition that has affected society, it is essential to determine the disequilibrium that has facilitated the change. The elements that were wrong could be observed in multiple details, highlighting the vulnerability of women.
For example, they were much less likely to have leadership roles than med or receive a similar wage (Rivera-Romano et al., 2020). Moreover, women were more likely to experience spousal abuse. As a result, it was clear that the power dynamic benefited one gender while harming the other.
Since half of the population is female, the issue has certainly been affecting various people on multiple levels. As a result, the social condition was established, mainly centered around inequality and the gender differences women have experienced in their workplaces, personal lives, and academia. As a result, public debate on gender roles and a lack of opportunities for females have become frequent, which was the precursor to the more significant Me Too movement. It highlighted the harassment and abuse experienced by females daily and in all areas of life.
Social Issue Through Clams Making
Subjective data
From a subjective standpoint, most females have experienced episodes in which they felt uncomfortable because of the sexual comments, advances, or physical touches of males. In my personal experience, I have witnessed instances in which my friends were treated unethically by people of the opposite gender without facing repercussions. Harassment is one of the levels of such treatment. Nonetheless, personal subjective experiences in which one is dismissed from a conversation, unfairly treated, or even insulted because of gender are prevalent. Moreover, the Me Too movement was based on the subjective opinions and experiences of women sharing their stories publicly.
Objective Data
Objective data supports both the claim that women are disadvantaged in modern society and the fact that the Me Too movement was a major phenomenon that numerous people have participated in and supported. In regard to disadvantages, one piece of evidence supporting the claim is the fact that only 6% of CEOs of major corporations are women (Smith et al., 2021).
Similarly, 95% of political leaders globally are male. Such a distribution highlights the existence of a problem correlating with the barriers that prevent females from reaching such positions in the private and public sectors. In regards to objective statistics on the support of the movement, the first week generated more than 1,5 million tweets with the hashtag #MeToo (Modrek & Chakalov, 2019). Thus, it is clear that evidence supports the existence of the social issue, which is why so many people joined the initiative in the first place.
Social Problem
Society has, indeed, identified the issue as a social problem, as exemplified by the number of people it affects, its impact on influential people, and the potential to address it through collective action. In regards to the number of people sexual harassment affects can be exemplified by the fact that over 1,5 million people have publicly revealed going through traumatic experiences online the first week after the movement was established (Modrek & Chakalov, 2019).
Media coverage was also significantly involved in highlighting the topic. This was especially the case with regard to the impact on influential people when the stories illustrated harassment experienced by celebrities (Ghosh et al., 2020). Similarly, news outlets were more likely to focus on violence, rape, and abuse reported by women against famous entertainers, politicians, and businessmen. Participation in online discussions, sharing personal stories, and being attentive to the media coverage of the topic highlights that society is, indeed, interested in addressing the issue.
Moreover, as mentioned previously, the fact that the affected demographic is women, who constitute half of the population, made the situation more prominent. The existence of the social problem can also be linked to the growing interest in feminist ideas that support the claim that women are more likely to experience abuse because society views them as less important than men (Macionis, 2020). As a result, it makes sense that the social problem has generated the movement of Me Too.
Social Movement
As mentioned previously, the social condition has, indeed, generated the movement of Me Too. People expressed support for the idea through the MeToo hashtag, which was posted 12 million times on Facebook in the first week and has been trending in more than 80 countries worldwide (Jaffe et al., 2021). The Me Too movement could not generate a new law or policy as rape, sexual assault, and harassment is already actions that are legally punishable. Nonetheless, it increased awareness of the issue and highlighted the importance of speaking up on such incidents (Castle et al., 2020).
The solution is to generate a cultural change rather than a legal one so that one’s integrity is viewed as something sacred. The movement has also allowed multiple women to seek justice, such as in the case of Harvey Weinstein’s victims. The outcomes may not have been the installment of a stricter policy to punish individuals who engage in abusive acts. Instead, society has become more familiar with the issue and has started treating it more seriously. As a result, companies have implemented new antiharassment regulations, women are more often believed when they report abuse, and men are more aware of certain aspects of communication with women that are unacceptable.
References
Castle, J. J., Jenkins, S., Ortbals, C. D., Poloni-Staudinger, L., & Strachan, J. C. (2020). The effect of the #MeToo movement on political engagement and ambition in 2018. Political Research Quarterly, 73(4), 926–941. Web.
Ghosh, S., Su, M.-H., Abhishek, A., Suk, J., Tong, C., Kamath, K., Hills, O., Correa, T., Garlough, C., Borah, P., & Shah, D. (2020). Covering #MeToo across the news spectrum: Political accusation and public events as drivers of press attention. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(1), 158–185. Web.
Jaffe, A. E., Cero, I., & DiLillo, D. (2021). The #MeToo movement and perceptions of sexual assault: College students’ recognition of sexual assault experiences over time. Psychology of Violence, 11(2), 209–218. Web.
Macionis, J. J. (2020). Social Problems (8th ed.). Pearson.
Modrek, S., & Chakalov, B. (2019). The #MeToo movement in the United States: Text analysis of early Twitter conversations. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(9). Web.
Rivera-Romano, L. S., Fresno, C., Hernández-Lemus, E., Martínez-García, M., & Vallejo, M. (2020). Gender imbalance in executive management positions at the Mexican National Institutes of Health. Human Resources for Health, 18(1). Web.
Smith, J. E., von Rueden, C. R., van Vugt, M., Fichtel, C., & Kappeler, P. M. (2021). An evolutionary explanation for the female leadership paradox. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. Web.