By Sandra Cuevas
In a time when womxn are stepping up in their power against gender inequality, patriarchy, and sexual assault or harassment, there are millions of men in great power who should realize they are no longer safe to abuse their power and should feel afraid.
#MeToo is a true testament of community; when people communicate with honesty, it allows everyone to realize how many stories and common experiences we share. When we allow people to speak their truths, we realize how the monsters we fear are similar and those are monsters we can all defeat together. Speaking up unites us and makes us an army.
This movement creates a way for womxn everywhere to speak up about their traumatic experiences and for others to realize that they have or are in a similar situation. This is a historic time that we are living in-- womxn are standing up, stomping their feet at marches, chanting their truths, and coming together as one. It’s important for many to stand up with this movement against these men who abuse their power. People are finally believing womxn and those accused are receiving consequences.
My older brother, Eric Belladonna, expressed, “I truly believe that #MeToo was a phenomenon created by the social climate of our country right now. We are tired of being treated small or unimportant because of gender, race, sexual orientations or class and #BlackLivesMatter has been the source of that inspiration. We have seen that society has a responsibility to stand up and say something if they see something wrong because if someone’s rights are taken, then all of our rights can be taken away. No one is exempt.“
‘Overreactions to minor aggressive incidents’ is what the media is portraying the stories from #MeToo to be. The backlash that has been received portrays the movement to be a cult of womxn trying to bring every man in Hollywood down so that ‘only womxn will rise.’
Monse Lopez, a senior in high school, stated, “Seeing the negative responses really saddens me since it seems when a movement is created by womxn and is aimed towards mainly helping womxn, it always seems to get polarized by the media, therefore, switching perspectives on the issue. It has always been like this and it has concluded in an adverse way.”
But what about the womxn whose voices weren’t heard years before this movement had even existed? It’s not fair that when it’s womxn who are white and on the big screen, they get a lot of attention, while the ones working their hardest with the most exhausting jobs are ignored when they decide to speak up and protest.
In 2015, there were a group of undocumented brown workers’ who spoke up on their stories about getting sexually abused on the job in isolated fields, in the ‘shadows of society’. They share that the men they worked for had abused, assaulted, and threatened to kill the womxn and their families if they didn’t engage in the sexual activities. Sometimes the men didn’t pay the womxn the money they earned and worked hard for if they didn’t please the men in the way they demanded. These womxn risked their lives, their jobs, and feeding their families to speak up. These womxn’s fight is being historically left out, but as a community, it’s important to make sure everyone is heard.
There was one assault story I read in December that made me realize I, too, have encountered similar situations to some of these womxn’s stories; I, too, experienced something that wasn’t right and traumatized me for many years after. That feeling of when a man puts his hands on you and forces you to engage in a sexual activity you’re not comfortable with is a feeling that sticks with you forever on.
With the rise of resistance, many who are victims of assault or harassment are able to feel a sense of hope and unity. This movement has allowed the ones who were silenced for so long to finally be heard. Now is the time to fight against patriarchy and speak your truth.
#MeToo is a true testament of community; when people communicate with honesty, it allows everyone to realize how many stories and common experiences we share. When we allow people to speak their truths, we realize how the monsters we fear are similar and those are monsters we can all defeat together. Speaking up unites us and makes us an army.
This movement creates a way for womxn everywhere to speak up about their traumatic experiences and for others to realize that they have or are in a similar situation. This is a historic time that we are living in-- womxn are standing up, stomping their feet at marches, chanting their truths, and coming together as one. It’s important for many to stand up with this movement against these men who abuse their power. People are finally believing womxn and those accused are receiving consequences.
My older brother, Eric Belladonna, expressed, “I truly believe that #MeToo was a phenomenon created by the social climate of our country right now. We are tired of being treated small or unimportant because of gender, race, sexual orientations or class and #BlackLivesMatter has been the source of that inspiration. We have seen that society has a responsibility to stand up and say something if they see something wrong because if someone’s rights are taken, then all of our rights can be taken away. No one is exempt.“
‘Overreactions to minor aggressive incidents’ is what the media is portraying the stories from #MeToo to be. The backlash that has been received portrays the movement to be a cult of womxn trying to bring every man in Hollywood down so that ‘only womxn will rise.’
Monse Lopez, a senior in high school, stated, “Seeing the negative responses really saddens me since it seems when a movement is created by womxn and is aimed towards mainly helping womxn, it always seems to get polarized by the media, therefore, switching perspectives on the issue. It has always been like this and it has concluded in an adverse way.”
But what about the womxn whose voices weren’t heard years before this movement had even existed? It’s not fair that when it’s womxn who are white and on the big screen, they get a lot of attention, while the ones working their hardest with the most exhausting jobs are ignored when they decide to speak up and protest.
In 2015, there were a group of undocumented brown workers’ who spoke up on their stories about getting sexually abused on the job in isolated fields, in the ‘shadows of society’. They share that the men they worked for had abused, assaulted, and threatened to kill the womxn and their families if they didn’t engage in the sexual activities. Sometimes the men didn’t pay the womxn the money they earned and worked hard for if they didn’t please the men in the way they demanded. These womxn risked their lives, their jobs, and feeding their families to speak up. These womxn’s fight is being historically left out, but as a community, it’s important to make sure everyone is heard.
There was one assault story I read in December that made me realize I, too, have encountered similar situations to some of these womxn’s stories; I, too, experienced something that wasn’t right and traumatized me for many years after. That feeling of when a man puts his hands on you and forces you to engage in a sexual activity you’re not comfortable with is a feeling that sticks with you forever on.
With the rise of resistance, many who are victims of assault or harassment are able to feel a sense of hope and unity. This movement has allowed the ones who were silenced for so long to finally be heard. Now is the time to fight against patriarchy and speak your truth.