I want to talk about something actually serious, right now,
today.
If you're on any kind of social media,
I'm sure you've seen the hashtag #MeToo.
Everybody has seen #MeToo, right?
OK, it was started by actress Alyssa Milano.
She tweeted out, "If all women who have been sexually
harassed or assaulted wrote, "Me too" as a status,
we might give people a sense of magnitude of the problem.
So, millions of people have come out posting #MeToo.
I applaud them all.
I think it's brave and I think it's
important to speak out and not by shame by anyone.
It is not always easy, but we have to do that.
And that's why I posted, and I will say it right now out loud,
me too.
[APPLAUSE]
This is not a male thing or a female thing.
It is not a Hollywood thing or a political thing.
This is a human thing.
And it happens in the workplace, it
happens in families, it happens all over the world.
And we are all the same.
We all want the same thing.
We want respect, and love, and kindness.
And if I could have those three things, and a new iPhone 10,
I would be complete.
[LAUGHTER]
All I ask for.
Part of the problem is that from a young age,
girls are taught to stay quiet and be nice.
And that boys are stronger and somehow we are less than.
That is why it is hard for us to speak out.
And even when we do speak out, people don't believe us.
But there is power in numbers.
And good for us, good for everyone speaking out.
I want to say thank you for everybody for speaking out.
[APPLAUSE]
Women-- women and even some men are sharing their stories
on Facebook and Twitter, some of them for the first time.
And people are "liking" or "thumbs upping"
or "hearting" the post.
And it's hard to know which is the right response.
Is it a crying face emoji because I'm
sad that that happened to you?
Or is it a smiley face to say good for you for speaking out?
I'm not sure about the etiquette.
But, I do know that hell hath no fury like a woman
with a Twitter account.
So, you have to be careful about what you tweet.
Because if you see a tweet that says
I can't wait to see the new Star Wars movie
and then you respond "me too," it
means something completely different now.
So, you're going to have to find another way to
say "I also," or "me as well," or "ditto," or "samsies,"
or something like that.
And if you really do want to see the Star Wars movie,
and you've been sexually harassed,
you can respond me too #MeToo, you know.
It is fantastic that everyone's posting the hashtag
and also taking some time to share the stories.
And as hard as this is to talk about,
at least we are talking about it.
It's not like this is a new thing.
It has been going on forever.
And thanks to being connected to social media
we can see it for what it is and that we are not alone.
And hopefully conversations that we're having now
will free all of us.
If you're a parent, we can break the cycle.
And teach our little girls and our little boys
that girls should be strong, boys should be kind.