Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.
And I'm Georgina.
In this programme we'll take a look at the
sensitive issue of sexual violence. At the
start of the decade no one knew
that the two-word phrase 'MeToo'
would go viral - or spread
quickly and widely on the internet
through social media.
But when explosive allegations against
Hollywood movie producer
Harry Weinstein made headlines
in 2017, the MeToo hashtag became the
focus for a global movement
of women determined
to expose the truth about
abusive sexual behaviour.
Weinstein was found guilty and given
a 23-year prison sentence.
But the deeper reasons behind
the problem, in America and worldwide,
have not disappeared. I have
a question now about
the origin of the MeToo expression.
Although the MeToo message
went viral due to public
support from famous Hollywood
actresses, the phrase itself was
thought up years earlier
by civil rights activist, Tarana Burke.
What year did she first use it? Was it:
a) 1996, b) 2006 or c) 2016?
I'll guess b) 2006.
OK, Georgina. We'll come back
to that later. Now more about
Tarana Burke.
Yes, Tarana worked with marginalised
women in neglected American
communities, shocking
numbers of whom were victims
of sexual violence and abuse.
Here she is talking with the BBC
World Service's programme HARDtalk
about how the MeToo movement
continues to speak up for
voiceless women and girls.
The beauty, I think, and the magic
of MeToo is that it's a unifier
in that way, and it's
where survivors find community and so -
definitely the mainstream media
kept the focus on the
actresses and Hollywood and that...
but at its core the women
who came forward were really
no different than those girls who I served
in the communities ten years before.
Tarana doesn't call the girls and women
who were abused 'victims'.
Instead she prefers
the term survivors - people who are
able to carry on with their life
successfully, despite
very unpleasant experiences
which still affect them.
The MeToo movement went viral
when several famous movie actresses
came forward - offered
to give information,
about sexual harassment.
While these Hollywood actresses were
famous celebrities, most survivors
of sexual violence
are ordinary women, living ordinary lives.
That's why Tarana calls
the MeToo movement
a unifier - something that unites and
brings people together, in this case
women of different
race and social background.
But while the media focused on particular
people - Weinstein and
several actresses in
the movie industry - Tarana is clear that
the problem is bigger than just individual
cases.
Here she is explaining about the wider
reasons behind the MeToo movement:
We can talk about Harvey Weinstein
ad nauseam but we also have to talk
about what are the
structures that were in place that allowed
a Harvey Weinstein to thrive.
If you're going
to talk about Harvey Weinstein's being
successful, then we have to also
talk about capitalism,
right? Because it's the love of money
and the desire for people
to have money and what
he represented. The bottom line is people
value those things more than
they value the
humanity of the women that he was
destroying their lives. It's about
power and it's about
privilege. At the end of the day, these
are the two things we have
to talk about dismantling.
According to Tarana, the behaviour
of abusers like Weinstein was not
challenged or questioned
because of their privilege - power
and advantage held by a small group
of people, usually because
of their high social position
or because they are rich.
So rather than focusing on individual
cases, it's male-dominated social
structures like
privilege that need dismantling - breaking
up or being stopped from
working by gradually
reducing its power over a period of time.
Tarana knows the problem won't
disappear overnight.
But she believes the MeToo movement
has opened up a space to talk
about sexual violence in
a new way and set out a pathway forward.
Let's go back to the quiz question. I asked
you what year the
two-word expression 'Me
Too' was used. Was it a) 1996,
b) 2006 or c) 2016, and you said...?
Yes. I said it was b) 2006.
Well done, Georgina! You are absolutely
right! Today, we've been talking
about the hashtag
MeToo movement which
went viral in 2017 - meaning
it spread quickly on the internet.
The name 'MeToo' was created
by Tarana Burke, an activist who works
with sexual abuse survivors
- people who experience abuse but are
able to carry on with
their lives successfully.
In 2017 many of these survivors
came forward - offered to give
information - about sexual
harassment in Hollywood.
And these actresses were supported
by millions of women and men
across the world, making
the MeToo movement an important
cultural unifier - something that
unites and brings people
together.
Now the movement wants to shift
the focus away from individual cases
and onto social
structures of privilege - power and
advantage held by a small group
of people, usually because
of their wealth or high social class.
And according to Tarana, it is these social
structures and attitudes which need to be
dismantled - stopped from
working by gradually reducing
their power over time.
And that's all we have time for today.
Join us again soon here at 6 Minute
English for more topical discussion
and vocabulary.
Bye for now.
Bye.