#MeToo and the prospects of political change

Soundings - ISSN 1362-6620
Volume 2019 Number 71

#MeToo and the prospects of political change
Catherine Rottenberg pages -
DOI: 10.3898/SOUN.71.03.2019

Abstract

This article looks at the context for the current mainstreaming of feminism, noting that some aspects of the current feminist ‘renaissance’ are troubling: neoliberal strands of feminism tend to be unmoored from key terms such as equality, justice and emancipation, and to be individually focused. #MeToo shares some of these characteristics, particularly in its individualism and in the overwhelming media attention given to its celebrity endorsers, while ignoring its black founder Tarana Burke. However, as well as the ‘me’ there is also a ‘too’ in the movement, which suggests some notion of collectivity, and there is no doubt that #MeToo has led to more attention being paid to sexual harassment, and has potentially contributed to a transformation in mainstream common sense about what is acceptable behaviour. After all, as political theorists and activists have been arguing for a very long time, visibility is a necessary part of resistance, and this issue is now certainly more visible.

SORRY - you are not registered as being permitted online access to the full text of this article

You have the following options:

  1. If you are viewing this via an institution or academic library you can ask that your institution takes out a Subscription to this journal.
  2. If you already have a Personal Subscription please login below


    Forgotten your username / password? Click here to locate

  3. Purchase an annual Personal Subscription
    PRINT + DIGITAL personal subscription (£40 / year)
    DIGITAL personal subscription (£30 / year)
    A Personal Subscription provides immediate access not only to the single article you are seeking, but also to all past and future articles in this journal up to the expiry of your annual (calendar year) subscription.
  4. Purchase immediate access to this single article (UK£7.00) - Buy article Coming Soon

To cite this article
Catherine Rottenberg (2019) #MeToo and the prospects of political change, Soundings, 2019(71), -. https://doi.org/10.3898/SOUN.71.03.2019

Share this