12.1.17: Nation – (Society): America is experiencing a moment, enabled by a movement, that rightfully centers the voice of distressed women who have suffered at the hands of entitled and perverse men. The present day offers women who have the courage to step forward a steadily growing community that unites itself via the hashtag #MeToo. For women often intimidated into silence, #MeToo appears as a well-deserved pulpit, a platform inherently amplified by the accessible and interconnected nature of social media.
But the #MeToo movement isn’t exclusively for women, even though their voices are certainly, and should be, unescapable now. Surprisingly, to me at least, some have argued that men who aim to contribute and be visible in this #MeToo moment are hijacking a cause that exist not for them, but in spite of them. Indeed, men today are largely perceived as the antagonist, not a victim, and part of the problem rather than susceptible to it.
And while men surely have some reflection to do, relegating them exclusively to the audience for the #MeToo conversation is neither fair nor what the founder of the movement intended.
“It’s about survivors,” Ms. Tawana Burke, the originator of #MeToo, told me this week during a Thursday morning interview on WURD Radio.
#MeToo was started in service of the black women and girls in Ms. Burke’s community. But it was never meant to have an exclusivity clause.
“Never put limitations on who can benefit from it,” Ms. Burke said.
Welcoming, and even encouraging, men and boys to be a part of the current national dialogue acknowledges just how widespread the abuse, and its resulting pain and trauma, is. Whether it’s at the church, the classroom, the casting couch or the campus, men are also sexually harassed and assaulted, often times by people they trust, like a pastor, coach or mentor.
The #MeToo platform offers enough space for everyone to be heard. It also creates a righteous moment of liberation that shouldn’t be sullied by unnecessary segregation. #MeToo exposes an evil, and that evil presents a clear and present danger to us all, no matter our gender or identity.
Our goal today should be to create inclusive spaces, online or otherwise, where the voices of victims are centered and predators are shamed and shunned. For sure, it’s going to take men stepping up in society to alter the bad behavior and thinking of some men. But it’s also necessary for men to say #MeToo, so that we can understand the true scope of the social problem and, more importantly, acknowledge, console and empower all victims.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
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