Nowadays, it seems that women are being affected by an intolerant attitude to a great extent. There has been a plethora of claims, trials, and lawsuits regarding various types of this attitude – starting from of sexual and ending with psychological. Such a phenomenon raises a number of important issues that are to be addressed. These issues occur within social relationships that are the primary object of sociology. The latter aims to resolve societal problems with a critical approach, analyzing all the related events critically and thoroughly. To that end, many notable sociologists developed unique and appropriate social theories and methodologies that may be an instrument for the mentioned analysis. The Me Too movement occurred due to continuous cases of sexual harassment that were reported by women and may be considered as a significant societal event to explore. In order to do this, it seems rational to apply several classic sociology theories. In this paper, through the prism of Emily Durkheim’s and Charlotte Gilman’s sociological ideas, the Me Too movement will be discussed. The primary argument is that this current event has an essential impact on today’s social relations.
In the beginning, brief but exhaustive essence and history of #MeToo are to be provided. It may be perceived as “an effort to affect social change, organized primarily through social media” (Maryville University, n.d., para. 3). According to Maryville University (n.d.), it was founded in 2006 but became mainstream in 2017 when several actresses revealed their experiences with sexual harassment in the cinema industry. Since the period, the movement serves as a source of solidarity for women who have faced the case of sexual harassment worldwide.
At this point, the launching step of the social event analysis is founded on Durkheim’s vision of the sociological method. She claims, “when one undertakes to explain a social phenomenon the efficient cause which produces it and the function it fulfils must be investigated separately” (Durkheim, 2012, p. 213). Thus, the reason why the Me Too movement occurred is to be formulated separately from the goals that it aspires to achieve.
The primary cause that contributed to the formation of #MeToo is, as mentioned above, the constant cases of sexual harassment at work that, usually, are initiated by men. It reveals that in contemporary conditions, women are not perceived as a full-fledged working environment actor. Gilman’s vision supports the latter claim, “Most men would hesitate very seriously before entering a business partnership with any woman, wife or not” (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007, p. 133). It is an acute problem of today’s social and economic relations because such a state of affairs negatively affects a woman’s consciousness. She starts perceiving herself as a weak human who is not able to create, work, or perform without an external danger of sexual character. It hinders the process of women’s social adaptation and integration, which cannot be considered as a positive effect on the state of the art of societal relationships (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007). These oppressive and intolerant conditions that might be defined as the objectively existing ones caused the emergence of the Me Too movement.
Here, it seems rational to discuss the main goal that #MeToo aims to achieve. Durkheim (2012, p. 218) states, “The function of a social fact must always be sought in the relationship that it bears to some social end.” Hence, this function of #MeToo is to be figured out through its relation to social beings, as well as the extent to which the movement affects the latter.
#MeToo’s primary aim is to change the conditions in which women are an object to sexual harassment. It influences a public opinion via various channels – mostly via social media – and encourages people to address the issue in conjunction (Maryville University, n.d.). The movement constantly correlates with a society, attracting attention to the theme substantially. Within the scope of the problem, it guides and affects people’s minds so that they could start demonstrating more concern about this theme. Numerous demonstrations and campaigns in support of the Me Too movement show that it fulfills its function significantly. It might be assumed that #MeToo serves as a noticeable platform for the struggle against sexual harassment internationally. Given the fact that the sexual harassment issue hinders the appropriate development of social and economic relationships, the movement’s activities may be determined as a necessity for today’s world.
In conclusion, it seems reasonable to state that #MeToo should be considered as a current societal phenomenon that aims to address the acute problem of sexual harassment. This phenomenon was analyzed through the lens of Durkheim’s and Gilman’s sociological theories. It was claimed that the cause of the movement’s emergence is the oppressive conditions in which women are being involved. Then, its function is to address the issue globally and efficiently via different communicative channels. It was also suggested that the importance and the significance of #MeToo are found on the fact that sexual harassment hinders the development of social relations.
References
Durkheim, E. (2012). The rules of sociological method [1895]. In C. Calhoun, J. Gerteis, J. Moody, S. Pfaff & I. Virk (Eds.), Classical sociological theory (pp. 201–219). John Wiley & Sons.
Lengermann, P. M., & Niebrugge, G. (2007). The women founders: Sociology and social theory 1830–1930. Waveland Press.
Maryville University. (n.d.). Understanding the Me Too Movement: A Sexual Harassment Awareness Guide.