MeToo

American  

[mee-too] / ˈmiˈtu /

Also #MeToo or Me Too

noun

1. a social media hashtag of solidarity used by survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault in a public disclosure of a past or current personal experience in order to demonstrate the prevalence of abuse.

   I never reported my boss because I couldn’t afford to lose my job. #MeToo

2. a social movement drawing attention to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other abuses of authority, especially those resulting from gendered power imbalances in social institutions.

   MeToo is revealing the tragic common thread in the lives of Hollywood stars, short-order cooks, soldiers, prisoners, students, etc.—no corner of society is immune to this epidemic of abuse.

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adjective

1. relating to or noting this social movement: a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;

   the MeToo era;

   a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;

   the Me Too backlash.

verb (used with object)

MeToo’d, MeTooed, MeTooing

1. to identify or accuse (one’s abuser) publicly in a claim of sexual harassment or sexual assault: Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

   How should celebrities who’ve been MeToo’d make amends and start over?

   Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

Etymology

Origin of MeToo

Coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, African American civil rights activist (born 1973)

Example Sentences

I’ve had zero patience for people who try to water down their response to #MeToo by saying, “Don’t people get to flirt anymore? Don’t they get to smile at each other? Can’t you compliment someone?”

From Salon

Prompts about feminism and gender equity ascended during the #MeToo era, and questions about community arose after Covid isolation.

From The Wall Street Journal

SHIELDS: I was worried about the #MeToo stuff just because I didn’t want it to be reduced to just a headline.

From Seattle Times

Building on an essay she wrote in The Paris Review during the height of #MeToo, Dederer explores the moral dimensions of art made by people who behaved monstrously, from Pablo Picasso to V.S.

From New York Times

In 2021, Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, and her Field/House Productions partner Mervyn Marcano signed a deal with CBS Studios to produce scripted, unscripted and documentary projects.

From Los Angeles Times