The Importance #Metoo had in the Woman's Rights movement Blog Post #7

 **The following information I am about to disclose is extremely sensitive and involves the topics of rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence. If you or someone close to you has been sexually assaulted please call the rape, abuse, and incest National Network:1-800-656-HOPE 

  The hashtag (#) these days may seem like such a forgotten part about social media. One might see a hashtag in an influencers Instagram or Tictok, but besides that, the symbol lacks much modern presence. Although this symbol may lack relevance for the masses now, this symbol increased the visibility and momentum of the Women's Rights Movement that the world had never seen. Before social media, the only news about a woman being abused, raped, or stalked was rarely discussed. Whereas the minute information that did exist was only about extremely gruesome sexual assaults or murder, and even then it only got media coverage when a body was reported or someone else reported the crime. Transitioning to the rise of social media and the #, the latter especially gave female sexual assault survivors a voice and traction for the Women's Rights Movement.

 For context, the way that a hashtag works is you post something on the internet and attach a pair of words or a slogan to a hashtag. Then people that have also posted that same pair of words or slogan, those posts will be joined to yours in a group social media page that anyone can add to, so long as they use the same symbol and words. The slogans paired with a hashtag that helped the Women's Rights Movement was called #Metoo. 

  First #Metoo was a slogan that gained traction on Myspace in 2006 by social activist Tarara Burke, for the purpose of giving women who experienced sexual violence visibility and a voice. In 2017, the slogan "Me too" became #Metoo, when an anonymous user created the hashtag so women who were survivors of sexual assault or predatory behavior could post a video, tweet, or picture on the internet and give their pain a voice and the issue of female sexual violence, assault and rape culture more visibility.

 This empowered women through giving female sexual assault survivors a voice that the world had never seen. This hashtag convicted hundreds of predators, including Harvey Weinstein. Several female celebrities such as: Gwenyth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman all used that hashtag and largely because of that he is now behind bars, for several accounts of sexual assault, right where he belongs. Through those hashtags of those posts of the brave women that shared their story gave the Women's Rights Movement visibility through showing the world that the violence or harassment against women is not okay.

 People are taught that turning the other cheek will make a bully stop. Or that not saying anything when others talk down to us makes us better people, but staying quiet about sexual violence towards women is condoning it because when we stay silent, the wrong are able to keep hurting the innocent. My heart goes out to anyone that has had to experience this pain, and I implore anyone that reads this to speak up to the unjust, silence the wicked, and protect the innocent.

 On a lighter note, here is the music video  "Keep Ya Head Up" by 2Pac. Keep ya head up guys.

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