What difference has #MeToo made? 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.

And I'm Georgina.

In this programme we'll take a look at the

sensitive issue of sexual violence. At the

start of the decade no one knew

that the two-word phrase 'MeToo'

would go viral - or spread

quickly and widely on the internet

through social media.

But when explosive allegations against

Hollywood movie producer

Harry Weinstein made headlines

in 2017, the MeToo hashtag became the

focus for a global movement

of women determined

to expose the truth about

abusive sexual behaviour.

Weinstein was found guilty and given

a 23-year prison sentence.

But the deeper reasons behind

the problem, in America and worldwide,

have not disappeared. I have

a question now about

the origin of the MeToo expression.

Although the MeToo message

went viral due to public

support from famous Hollywood

actresses, the phrase itself was

thought up years earlier

by civil rights activist, Tarana Burke.

What year did she first use it? Was it:

a) 1996, b) 2006 or c) 2016?

I'll guess b) 2006.

OK, Georgina. We'll come back

to that later. Now more about

Tarana Burke.

Yes, Tarana worked with marginalised

women in neglected American

communities, shocking

numbers of whom were victims

of sexual violence and abuse.

Here she is talking with the BBC

World Service's programme HARDtalk

about how the MeToo movement

continues to speak up for

voiceless women and girls.

The beauty, I think, and the magic

of MeToo is that it's a unifier

in that way, and it's

where survivors find community and so -

definitely the mainstream media

kept the focus on the

actresses and Hollywood and that...

but at its core the women

who came forward were really

no different than those girls who I served

in the communities ten years before.

Tarana doesn't call the girls and women

who were abused 'victims'.

Instead she prefers

the term survivors - people who are

able to carry on with their life

successfully, despite

very unpleasant experiences

which still affect them.

The MeToo movement went viral

when several famous movie actresses

came forward - offered

to give information,

about sexual harassment.

While these Hollywood actresses were

famous celebrities, most survivors

of sexual violence

are ordinary women, living ordinary lives.

That's why Tarana calls

the MeToo movement

a unifier - something that unites and

brings people together, in this case

women of different

race and social background.

But while the media focused on particular

people - Weinstein and

several actresses in

the movie industry - Tarana is clear that

the problem is bigger than just individual

cases.

Here she is explaining about the wider

reasons behind the MeToo movement:

We can talk about Harvey Weinstein

ad nauseam but we also have to talk

about what are the

structures that were in place that allowed

a Harvey Weinstein to thrive.

If you're going

to talk about Harvey Weinstein's being

successful, then we have to also

talk about capitalism,

right? Because it's the love of money

and the desire for people

to have money and what

he represented. The bottom line is people

value those things more than

they value the

humanity of the women that he was

destroying their lives. It's about

power and it's about

privilege. At the end of the day, these

are the two things we have

to talk about dismantling.

According to Tarana, the behaviour

of abusers like Weinstein was not

challenged or questioned

because of their privilege - power

and advantage held by a small group

of people, usually because

of their high social position

or because they are rich.

So rather than focusing on individual

cases, it's male-dominated social

structures like

privilege that need dismantling - breaking

up or being stopped from

working by gradually

reducing its power over a period of time.

Tarana knows the problem won't

disappear overnight.

But she believes the MeToo movement

has opened up a space to talk

about sexual violence in

a new way and set out a pathway forward.

Let's go back to the quiz question. I asked

you what year the

two-word expression 'Me

Too' was used. Was it a) 1996,

b) 2006 or c) 2016, and you said...?

Yes. I said it was b) 2006.

Well done, Georgina! You are absolutely

right! Today, we've been talking

about the hashtag

MeToo movement which

went viral in 2017 - meaning

it spread quickly on the internet.

The name 'MeToo' was created

by Tarana Burke, an activist who works

with sexual abuse survivors

- people who experience abuse but are

able to carry on with

their lives successfully.

In 2017 many of these survivors

came forward - offered to give

information - about sexual

harassment in Hollywood.

And these actresses were supported

by millions of women and men

across the world, making

the MeToo movement an important

cultural unifier - something that

unites and brings people

together.

Now the movement wants to shift

the focus away from individual cases

and onto social

structures of privilege - power and

advantage held by a small group

of people, usually because

of their wealth or high social class.

And according to Tarana, it is these social

structures and attitudes which need to be

dismantled - stopped from

working by gradually reducing

their power over time.

And that's all we have time for today.

Join us again soon here at 6 Minute

English for more topical discussion

and vocabulary.

Bye for now.

Bye.