The Voices of #MeToo: From Grassroots Activism to a Viral Roar illustrates the complicated, intersectional genealogy of #MeToo - arguably one of the most successful social media projects in recent history. Exploring intersectional identity politics in #MeToo reveals how marginalized voices are engaged or silenced in the social media juggernaut. This text analyzes the discursive moment of the movement within diverse communities facing issues of: racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, ethnocentrism, binaried ideologies, toxic masculinities and systemic oppression. This book too interrogates the implications of #MeToo including: the experiential duality of public and private citizens; the appropriation and silencing surrounding identity politics and grassroots activism for people of color; the double-bind of oppression and dismissal for the LGBTQ+ community; the varied responses to #MeToo around the developed, developing, and underdeveloped world; the unique experiences and challenges facing citizens with disabilities in discussing #MeToo; and, the discussion of destabilized masculinity for hetero, cisgender men living in the #MeToo moment.
Acknowledgments Chapter One: "The Silence Breakers": The Social Media Activism of #MeToo I. The Voices of #MeToo 1. Challenges of Change 2. Meeting the Challenge 3. A History of Collective Action 4. Social Media and #Intersectionality II. Intersectional Approaches 1. Mapping the Margins 2. Not a Moment, But a Movement Chapter Two: "When Movie Stars don't Know Where to Go, What Hope is There for the Rest of Us?" The Public and Private Faces of #MeToo I. The Celebrity Machine 1. Critical Mass a. Consumerism b. Reductionism 2. Social Media is the Message 3. Performing Activism 4. Agents of Change Chapter Three: "Sisters Still Managed to Get Diminished or Erased": Tarana Burke's Grassroots Goal and the Implications of #MeToo for Women of Color 1. Intersectional Interventions I. The Activism of Everyday Survival 1. Cultural Guardians: Black Female Activists 2. A Legacy of Silenced Voices 3. Pipelines of Abuse 4. WOC Online II. Recuperating the 99% Chapter Four: "Most of Us Were Never Taught the Language with Which to Understand the Experiences of our Youth": The Double-Bind of Silenced Sexual Victimization in the LGBTQ+ Community 1. Statistics and Silence 2. Multifaceted Oppression a. Fetishization b. Bisexuality c. Trans Community d. LGBTQ+ Youth 3. Internalization 4. Binaried Language 5. #MeQueer I. A Worthy Goal 1. Prism of Reckoning Chapter Five: "The Fastest Way to Discredit Any Women's Rights Struggle is to Say it Comes from Somewhere Else": Global Responses to #MeToo I. MeToo Rising Worldwide 1. Collective Understanding 2. Statistical Context 3. Global Responses a. Australia b. Brazil c. China d. Denmark e. England f. France g. Kenya h. India i. Ireland j. Japan k. Philippines l. Russia m. South Korea n. Spain o. Sweden II. The Shared Language of Change Chapter Six: "Disability is the One Minority Group We Can All Join": The Omission of People with Disabilities from #MeToo I. Sexual Citizenship 1. A Personhood up for Grabs 2. Educational Justice II. Blank Boxes and Intersectionality Chapter Seven: "Perhaps all the Moment Requires is for Men to Shut Up and Listen": Toxic Masculinity and Male Responses to #MeToo I. Hegemonic Backlash 1. The Toxic Locker Room 2. Networked Misogyny 3. From Bystanders to Upstanders 4. The Hazards of Conformity II. #WeDo Believe Male Survivors III. Fragile Strength 1. The Wake-Up Call Final Thoughts
