Me Too, But Not Her
- Alyssa Curtis
- Oct 20, 2018
- 2 min read
About a year ago, the #MeToo movement went viral. Popularized by actress, Alyssa Milano, the popularity of the movement came about after the sexual allegations against Harvey Weinstein became public. Used as a method to illustrate the commonality sexual misconduct is, it gave people, specifically women, a community in order for them not to feel alone.
What is often forgotten and overlooked though, is it’s true beginnings. While the movement and its work is very important, it is also vital to understand that it didn’t just appear on Twitter and Alyssa Milano didn’t create this platform.
A black woman did.
A black woman who has too often been erased from the conversation.
Tarana Burke was inspired to start Me Too in 2007 when she “saw a failure to hear, and a failure to speak” about sexual misconduct, according to Jezebel.
When it went viral a little over a year ago, people credited Milano for the idea - expunging Burke and her work.
Back in 2007, and the movement’s beginning stages, the idea was centered around black and brown women, creating a space in which they are comfortable with telling their stories. Black and brown women are too often marginalized to an even greater extent than their white counterparts, so for a white woman to be credited for something that had belonged so long to brown women, brings in the question of exclusionary white feminism.
While Milano’s work for the movement should absolutely be recognized, it’s important for us not to forget Burke and all the women she was fighting for before it was trending on Twitter. Before Milano, the movement was not exclusionary to brown women, but erasing the ones who came before - ones who were primarily brown - gives the new wave an exclusionary tone.
It's important for feminism to be inclusionary. What's best for some women may not be what's best for brown and black women. Women need to take into consideration the privileges that they may have that may not make “being a women” so horrible. Keep in mind those women who are of color, those who are LGBTQ+, those that are of less socioeconomic status. Don't erase the work of those before you but rather build on them. Always remember to include them not only in your discussions but in your decisions as well. Be allies to the women of color and don't white-wash their work.
Read more about the erasure of black women here:
Cover photo courtesy of Getty Images
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