OPINION
DOCTORS ' Lounge
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# US , Too
Mary G . Barry , MD Louisville Medicine Editor editor @ glms . org
Tarana Burke started the “ Me , Too ” movement back in 2006 . In 1996 , she had been deeply mortified by her failure to properly help a schoolgirl who was being sexually abused at home . The child opened up to her , but Ms . Burke felt unprepared and emotionally overwhelmed , and suggested another counselor . The memory of that child ’ s shattered face as she turned her back on Ms . Burke was burned into her soul . She felt desperate to help other girls in the most effective way . Eventually , in 2006 , she founded “ Just Be , Inc .” She describes it as “ a youth organization focused on the health , wellbeing and wholeness of young women of color .” She envisioned this effort as a way for women and girls of color to find solace in the sorority of others who had been abused : the “ Me ” and the “ Too ” could talk in a way that only survivors of shared pain can .
Flash back a month to the accusations ( ever-growing ) against Hollywood ’ s Harvey Weinstein . A sudden chorus of female voices joined in those accusations with extensive detail . Reporter Ronan Farrow wrote in the Nov . 6 th issue of The New Yorker about uncovering a network of ex-Mossad
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE spies whom Mr . Weinstein had allegedly employed to suppress and discredit his accusers . Almost daily since , another public figure has been accused . Women have never been silent about this , but we have been disbelieved if we speak up . We have been fired , demoted , insulted , and blamed in every possible way for the act of another , merely for standing up in our own defense . We have agreed to be taunted and belittled , just to get the part . We have agreed to do sexual acts , just to get the job . We have understood that to work in certain places , we have to use our looks to succeed – but then they use our looks against us , anyway .
What no one professed to “ know ” until the actress Alyssa Milano ’ s tweet set the net on fire with responses , was how many thousands upon thousands of us could , and would , say “ Me , Too .” Facebook reported that 4.7 million of us identified with “ Me , Too .” Thousands marched in LA on Sunday , November 12 , led by organizer Ms . Burke and many others . Accusations against British men , against Swedes , against media types of every sort are swirling round the airwaves . Women who have lived with this all of their professional lives are astonished , yet gratified , that the dam has broken . Apparently , someone ( meaning men ) is now prepared to listen to us ( so they say ).
What “ Me , Too ” really means is that nearly every woman has been felt up , or grabbed , or rubbed up against , or pushed against the elevator wall , or crowded into the window seat of the bus by a man who proceeds to touch himself . It is so utterly commonplace that when a woman tells a friend about this , the friend nods her head sagely . Women in health careers have the same experiences as women on the line , in the university , in the office , at the store . Women on the frontlines of the infantry and in the back rooms of politics are all unwillingly subjected to forced touching . Women in every part of the world , for all her many centuries , have been raped and killed for sexual reasons . Women and girls and boys and men have been sold into sexual slavery . Armies use rape as a weapon against civilians .
Survivors of rape are blamed for wearing certain things , for being certain places , for failing to kill their attackers even . Survivors of rape are especially blamed for the crimes of others , and even if one # MeToo