MeToo

Also #MeToo
Or Me Too

[mee-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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of MeToo¹

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

Example Sentences

The #MeToo movement seemed to have transformed, or at least profoundly altered, the nature of power in the cultural industries and the corporate world at large.

From Salon

An Italian journalist who excluded Ayo Edebiri on a question about Black Lives Matter and #MeToo speaks out about the viral Venice Film Festival interview.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2018, inspired by the global #MeToo movement, which has also taken hold in South Korea, Ms Choi reached out to advocacy groups and spent about two years gathering evidence before filing a petition for a retrial.

From BBC

The Italian journalist who — for some reason — excluded Ayo Edebiri in a question about Hollywood and the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements has spoken out about the now-viral interview.

From Los Angeles Times

In a video that has been shared widely, Polidoro is heard asking Roberts and Garfield what they thought was “lost during the politically correct era” and what people can expect from Hollywood now that “the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matters are done.”

From Los Angeles Times