'Me Too' campaign

[KathyLauren]

I posted a "Me too" status on my Facebook page today.  Here's what it is about:

If all the people who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote "Me too" as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.

You know, it was as hard to do as coming out as trans was.  I had only ever told about five people before.

But I thought it was important.  I am usually seen as someone who has her stuff together.  It is important that people see that *anyone* can be affected by sexual harassment or assault.

[Doreen]

It might just be another chain message anticipating mass results for the desire to hack multiple accounts too.. however that being said, I also participated. 

[Laurie]

It might just be another chain message anticipating mass results for the desire to hack multiple accounts too.. however that being said, I also participated.

This campaign is not a scam or chain . It was on Good Morning America this morning.. So if it applies to you I would encourage you to participate. It is on all the major news sites too. It's legit.

[SailorMars1994]

As A trans-woman I have been whistled at and in one case followed back in July 2016 when I presented as my true form one day.

[Devlyn]

I posted a "Me too" status on my Facebook page today.  Here's what it is about:

If all the people who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote "Me too" as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.

You know, it was as hard to do as coming out as trans was.  I had only ever told about five people before.

But I thought it was important.  I am usually seen as someone who has her stuff together.  It is important that people see that *anyone* can be affected by sexual harassment or assault.

Me, too.

Hugs, Devlyn

[widdershins]

I'm a survivor and kind of want to participate, but at the same time, there are a bunch of people on my timeline complaining about men and non-binary people participating because it shifts the blame away from men and the problem of misogyny. So yeah...I'm going to end up feeling guilty either way.

[Sydney_NYC]

I participated in this as well today. Twice I have been sexually harassed only as a woman not as a trans woman. The compain applies to all women cis or trans.

[AndrewB]

I'm a survivor and kind of want to participate, but at the same time, there are a bunch of people on my timeline complaining about men and non-binary people participating because it shifts the blame away from men and the problem of misogyny. So yeah...I'm going to end up feeling guilty either way.

I'd love to hear what some ladies here think about these sentiments, but for me I think the issue/campaign should be for spreading the message that anyone can be sexually harassed or assaulted, just as KathyLauren expressed. If we're to do anything to truly combat sexual assault and harassment, we have to get people to understand that sexual assault has no defined gender dichotomy/relationship: anyone can be a sexual assault victim or assailant. I shudder to think how many men have been silenced from this campaign for fear no one will take them seriously. I would feel so alone and invalidated if someone told me I couldn't feel pain from something, as a man, because some other man has committed the same act that hurt me.

[Michelle_P]

#MeToo


When I realized what the #MeToo tag meant, I frankly found this to be triggering, plunging me right back to high school. No, thank you!  But, yes, it can happen to folks like me. 

Sexual harassment and assault has happened to many people, unfortunately. I suspect that many who have been through this will not participate in the #MeToo campaign, to avoid the memories, and out of fear of being put to the question, even if only by well-meaning people.

Keep this in mind:

Victims do not owe others an explanation. Their experience is theirs. They do not have to justify themselves to others, or explain why bad behavior is bad.

[Devlyn]

I'm a survivor and kind of want to participate, but at the same time, there are a bunch of people on my timeline complaining about men and non-binary people participating because it shifts the blame away from men and the problem of misogyny. So yeah...I'm going to end up feeling guilty either way.

I'd love to hear what some ladies here think about these sentiments, but for me I think the issue/campaign should be for spreading the message that anyone can be sexually harassed or assaulted, just as KathyLauren expressed. If we're to do anything to truly combat sexual assault and harassment, we have to get people to understand that sexual assault has no defined gender dichotomy/relationship: anyone can be a sexual assault victim or assailant. I shudder to think how many men have been silenced from this campaign for fear no one will take them seriously. I would feel so alone and invalidated if someone told me I couldn't feel pain from something, as a man, because some other man has committed the same act that hurt me.

The one that came across my FB said:

"Me too. If all the women (and men, and others) who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote "Me too." as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Please copy/paste...."


I was molested as an eight year old boy, by a male. I think anyone who has been a victim should be able to participate, or we don't see the full extent of the issue.

Hugs, Devlyn

[KathyLauren]

The issue is not (just) misogyny, the victims are not only women, and the perpetrators are not only men.  The point of the campaign is to raise awareness of this hidden crime.  It tends to lurk in the shadows of shame, allowing the perps to walk free and pretend to be fine upstanding citizens.  If we know how common it is, maybe we can talk about it and start to do something about it.

This was really triggering for me.  I became aware of the campaign when a friend of mine posted a "Me too" status.  I am shocked how many more of them did so as well.  And I do not know how many more could have but didn't.  I was shaking, with tears in my eyes before I hit the Post button.  "Do I dare tell the world?  Do I dare admit it for all to see?"  Then I realized that that was why I had to do it.

I was (presumed to be) a boy at the time.

[Michelle_P]

KathyLauren, thanks for posting that!

My experience was similar, after I resorted to Google to see what #MeToo meant. OMG.

That retriggered all the horrors of high school. (I was easily the most effeminate male in an all male religious high school, with delayed onset puberty and my difficulty behaving as a cismale leading to extremely unpleasant times.)

I posted #MeToo, without any details.

Our nightmares are our own, and we don't have to justify them or our existence to others.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LiliFee]

#MeToo

I find it very strange that this isn't a bigger topic on our forums. Just ran a search on this and another forum: this topic has been the ONLY hit on both. How come?

There has been a backlash against #MeToo in the media, of POC and others, that #MeToo overly reflects wealthy, white cishet women. Judging by the rather low number of topics on the issue in our 'scene', that seems to be the case. But even then: why no outcry on our side?

Could it be a reflection of the kind of people that frequent these forums? Of course we ALL get to deal with unwanted sexual advances at some point in our lives. You don't have to be read as a woman for that, as some people in this topic have aptly pointed out.

But: looking at my life, I'm post-op and have a good passing, my life doesn't revolve around trans* issues a lot anymore. In effect, my visits to this forum have diminished, and it's relatively late on in the whole #metoo thing that I even thought about paying you guys here a visit. I did, however, have longer discussions with people on other forums and boards, and in 'real life' about this topic.

In any case: why is there no bigger outcry on our end? #MeToo is about (male) sexual misconduct, and we get to see/feel that a lot too!!

[Bari Jo]

The first person I came out to is an ally and had a me too comment on her page.  I'd post it on my own, but I am not publicly identifying as female yet.  I have been sexually harassed though at an old workplace where we both worked.  That pain and shame takes forever to go away.  So yeah, me too.

Bari Jo

[sarah1972]

I have seen one or two cis male friends post a MeToo on their FB wall. For none of them I had any suspicion about them being trans and they are certainly not. I don't think anyone would suspect anything if you would post a MeToo.

Especially in light of recent day revelations about Kevin Spacey this does not only affect women.

The first person I came out to is an ally and had a me too comment on her page.  I'd post it on my own, but I am not publicly identifying as female yet.  I have been sexually harassed though at an old workplace where we both worked.  That pain and shame takes forever to go away.  So yeah, me too.

Bari Jo

[Bari Jo]

I have seen one or two cis male friends post a MeToo on their FB wall. For none of them I had any suspicion about them being trans and they are certainly not. I don't think anyone would suspect anything if you would post a MeToo.

Especially in light of recent day revelations about Kevin Spacey this does not only affect women.

Dammit, your reply just made me post a me too picture on facebook.  I shed a tear while doing it.  The pain is still fresh after 7 years!

Bari Jo

[sarah1972]

I am very sorry what happened to you (and all the others on this thread) I cannot even imagine what you are going through. I do hope the current public discussion about this topic will make a difference in the future.

Stay strong Bari Jo!

Hugs

Sarah

Dammit, your reply just made me post a me too picture on facebook.  I shed a tear while doing it.  The pain is still fresh after 7 years!

Bari Jo

[Alenko]

Me too. I'm a guy but it has happened to me more than once.. I think most guys just don't say anything because I suppose it just isn't a "big deal." I dunno, it's all unacceptable.

[KathyLauren]

Me too. I'm a guy but it has happened to me more than once.. I think most guys just don't say anything because I suppose it just isn't a "big deal." I dunno, it's all unacceptable.

I am sorry it happened to you, too.

It is a big deal, no matter whom it happens to.  I was, to the best of my knowledge at the time, a male when it happened to me.  It might have been the biggest thing that happened to me prior to transition.  I didn't say anything because it was so humiliating.

[Julia1996]

That happened to me in highschool too Kathy. And like you I never told anyone. If I had told my dad about it he would hare had the guys arrested I'm sure and I did think about it but if I did I knew the whole school would find out about it and I just couldn't deal with that. It happened when I was 16 and still technically a boy. I was excused from gym class because of the sun exposure risk. The school didn't want me roaming the halls and the principal didn't want me hanging around the office so I was told to spend that period in this upstairs room over the library. It was used for storage but there were a few chairs in there so I sat up there and read until gym class was over. I didn't think anyone even knew there was a room up there. One day I was sitting up there reading and these 3 guys came up there. They were football jocks and they were among the guys who were the meanest to me. One of them stayed in the doorway as a lookout I guess. One of them just stood there looking at me and the third guy walked up to where I was sitting, unzipped and took out his junk. He told me I was going to suck it and I was going to swallow it when he was done or he would throw me down the staircase and if I bit down on it he'd break my jaw and break my teeth. He grabbed me by the hair and shoved it down my throat. Thankfully he "finished" pretty fast but he nearly choked me to death doing it. Then they just left like nothing happened. It was hard for me to believe it had actually happened but the after taste reminded me it had happened.

I didn't put up a fight because I totally believed him about throwing me down the stairs and all three of them were way bigger than me. That was one reason I didn't tell my dad about it. I was afraid he would be upset with me for not resisting. I never could figure out the motivation he had to do that. I also couldn't understand how they could do that to me but I was the one they called fagot and homo. I have never told anyone about this.