Labor and Employment Law

Ca. Labor & Emp't Rev. JULY 2023, VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4

MCLE SELF-STUDY: A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: #METOO’S IMPACT ON LEGISLATION

AUTHOR*

Beth W. Mora

"Me Too" was coined in 2006 by American activist Tarana Burke as part of an effort to bring solidarity among survivors of harassment and assault.1 Just over ten years later, on October 15, 2017, in the wake of the harassment and assault accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, actress and activist Alyssa Milano posted a tweet, "If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet." Within 24 hours, this tweet generated over 12 million responses on multiple social media platforms.2 In the months that followed, more than four out of ten members of Congress (44%) mentioned sexual misconduct in at least one post on their official Facebook accounts.3 Even a full year after the Milano tweet, messages denoted by "#MeToo" continued to be used on social media 55,000 a day.4 Like other social movements, #MeToo is inextricably linked to its hashtags, where #MeToo moves seamlessly between online and offline spaces, reinforcing one another.5

More than five years after Milano’s October 2017 tweet, it is clear that the #MeToo movement sparked a societal reckoning by the millions of women who

Join CLA to access this page

Join Now

Forgot Password

Enter the email associated with you account. You will then receive a link in your inbox to reset your password.

Personal Information

Select Section(s)

CLA Membership is $99 and includes one section. Additional sections are $99 each.

Payment