Viral paradox: The intersection of “me too” and #MeToo

Abstract

Scholarship on #MeToo has examined the feminist underpinnings of the movement and affordances of digital platforms to create space for telling stories of sexual harassment and violence. This essay makes a different contribution, in that we seek to understand the impact of the viral version of #MeToo on the established primarily Black community developed by Tarana Burke. In this essay, we use the framework of intersectionality and organizational paradox to examine the differences in the social construction of the two versions of the movement. The framework of intersectionality allows us to examine how the viral version of #MeToo perpetuated by Alyssa Milano reified the social construction of inequalities and interlocking systems of oppression for Black and other women of color. The article examines the effects of Milano’s entrance into the “me too” space on the community built through Burke’s “me too” movement. We identify an illumination/occlusion paradox that creates the illusion of inclusivity, creates difficulty in community boundary management, and allows for outsider gaze into a previously safe space. We argue for moving beyond the considerations of assigning credit for the movement and instead consider the impacts of the paradox of the original community experiencing erasure through the abrupt and swift increased visibility of the hashtag.

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