In 2017, Hollywood was rocked with a multitude of sexual assault allegations, beginning with famed producer Harvey Weinstein. The revelation of his assaults against multiple women led to a domino effect in which more women across industries were speaking up and sharing their experiences of sexual assault and harassment. This is nothing new. For centuries women, and men, have been raised in communities across the world with the constant shadow of having been or knowing someone that was sexually harassed and/or assaulted.
With these revelations occurring in media, particularly in Hollywood, the MeToo movement, founded by Tarana Burke, was brought to the forefront, where women shared with the world their strength. The question then became what is next? What is the next step when finally all people in society are paying attention? This was answered in the first week of 2018.
The beginning of January usually signals the start of award season in Hollywood, but this year the women of Hollywood started it with a call to action. Actresses, agents, writers, directors and executives came together and established the initiative Time’s Up.
Co-Chair of the Nike foundation, Marie Eitel stated to the NY Times, “People were moved viscerally. They didn’t come together because they wanted to whine, or complain, or tell a story or bemoan. They came together because they intended to act. There was almost a ferociousness to it, especially in the first meetings.”[1]
This is an initiative that not only looks to confront the culture within Hollywood but all industries from the farm to the hotel, industries where everyday women have also dealt with the same sexual harassment and assault experiences but with not the same platform to be heard. Time’s Up looks to cover various aspects of the issue, the legal – in creating a fund to assist everyday women who look to take action, Hollywood culture- where a working group is looking to get the various agencies in Hollywood to have gender parity, and ensuring the representation of the LGBT community with a working group that looks to speak on their experiences.
Writer and a star of the Netflix series “Master of None”, Lena Waithe shared with the NY Times, “No one wants to look back and say they stood at the sidelines.”[2]
The women announced this initiative with an open letter in the New York Times, to let the world know that action is being taken and that the women of Hollywood have banded together and will support their fellow women in surviving and fighting.
“We have been siloed off from each other,” actress Reese Witherspoon notes to the NY Times. “We’re finally hearing each other, and seeing each other, and now locking arms in solidarity with each other, and in solidarity for every woman who doesn’t feel seen, to be finally heard.”[3]
[1] Cara Buckley, “Powerful Hollywood Women Unveil Anti-Harassment Action Plan,” The New York Times, January 1, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/movies/times-up-hollywood-women-sexual-harassment.html.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.