Women’s oppression throughout history caused them to band together and strive for equivalence with men. The Women’s suffrage Movement and the “MeToo” Movement are two examples of women’s desire to gain social and political rights. Although separated by nearly a century, these movements in contrast can be learned from and be set as a precedent for avoiding unhelpful action within future women’s rights endeavors. Movements throughout history have repeatedly shown that an end goal in synthesis with a noble set of beliefs is imperative for success in creating lasting change. Sarah Grimké, author of Equality of the Sexes wrote, “‘I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, …show more content…
The “MeToo” movement in a way recognizes this and is attempting to come up with a solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem by reason of the millions of reported cases of sexual harassment each year in the United States. At this point, Jaffe explains that we “got to the moment when sexual harassment stories are big news” because “the structures of the legal system and the workplace did not change. Instead, tens of thousands of women said yes, me too” (81). Due to the failure of the justice system, the main way in which people can warm other about their perpetrator is to speak out on mainly social media. This tactic is incredibly dangerous as “perpetrators” can sometimes be falsely accused therefore actual laws need to be put into place and meet the needs of the “Metoo” victims. Unfortunately, whether these tactics will translate into actual legislation is unclear, if they don’t then the goal of the “Metoo” movement will not truly succeed. However, when you look at the history of the women’s suffrage movement and consider that first speaking out was how they later on gained the right to vote, it is entirely possible that speaking about sexual harassment cases will in fact translate into legislation and meet the goal of the “MeToo” …show more content…
Jaffe explains that one of the problems the movement is facing is that “well-intentioned men are now afraid that they have done harm, or that they will be accused of having done what they did not realize was harm” (83). This is probably the only significant obstacle, while at the same time being a major one because people on social media are very quick to judge on specific alleged sexual harassment cases, when instead deep analysis is required to conclude it’s claims. The idea that the potential to be charged with sexual assault is an actual concern, people “worry that #Metoo will ruin dating.” Although too early to tell, ruining dating is a bit far-fetched, instead, changin it’s dynamic structure is again, entirely possible. Both movements, “Metoo” and suffrage have and had their own set of challenges; ironically during the women’s marches in the 19th century, men were empowered and outspoken while women were inferior and now men are uncharacteristically quiet and women are shunning