#MeToo: Women Speak Out Against Sexual Assault

by The New York Times (Editor)

It started with an article and grew into a movement. #MeToo was born in the wake of a Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times investigative report on producer Harvey Weinstein's habitual sexual harassment of young women. The hashtag empowered women around the world to share their stories of sexual assault and abuse. Corporations responded by firing dozens of accused CEOs, media moguls, and movie stars, and politicians responded by sponsoring legislation against sexual harassment. This collection of articles tracks the movement from its start. It looks at the international response and inevitable criticism, as well as the future of the movement.

Genres: Nonfiction

221 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2018

About the author

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Its website receives 30 million unique visitors per month.

Reviews

[Grace Milhoan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The public action of the Me Too movement started with a tweet, but the process itself began long before Alyssa Milano’s outcry for justice on social media. The tweet read, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” Millions of people across the world began to share their story using the hashtag. The tweet created a movement that galvanized millions, sparking many new changes and ideas, but this was only the start. Currently, people continue to put effort into this movement. #MeToo: Women Speak Out Against Sexual Assault, a non-fiction book, written and arranged by The New York Times gives readers a vivid view of a movement that brings sexual harassment to light.
The book begins by addressing the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Weinstein, a powerful Hollywood producer was accused by many women of sexual harassment. Weinstein’s allegations were a large portion of the book as many women spoke up and there are many allegations against him. #MeToo then transitions into the political aspects of the #MeToo movement. This book tells that the movement is not just happening in America, or just in response to Weinstein, but rather that it is a worldwide movement. #MeToo explains how different countries reacted to the original tweet. Most world leaders said that sexual harassment was not an issue for there country. #MeToo sites various countries such as France, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Middle Eastern Countries, and America to show the difference in how their governments responded to the Me Too movement. The widespread social media response to #MeToo proves that sexual harassment is not just happening in one country or with one person, sadly it is a global issue.
The book then transitions to a new collection of articles to talk about how men feel as a result of this social media outcry. Many men state that they are fearful that they have said or done something that could be considered sexual harassment. A few stated that they are unsure if they are overstepping boundaries when talking to their female coworkers. Also the book explained that men are almost afraid to speak with their female coworkers for fear that they may be accused of harassment. #MeToo concludes with several stories of women taking a stand and facing their perpetrators, to show that as a whole women are uniting, becoming strong and moving in the right direction by bringing a taboo topic to light.
In my opinion, #MeToo: Women Speak Out Against Sexual Assault, is especially informational and eye-opening. While I enjoyed reading this book, it also describes mature and sometimes horrific events that some may find to be disturbing. For instance, the book talks about a young girl who was victimized. “...a 23 year old women named Jyoti Singh was gang-raped so viciously that it damaged her intestines, lungs and brain.” The book continues with Singh’s story in graphic detail only to conclude that Singh passed away from the injuries she sustained. Although there are somber details, I would still recommend this book. The time period in which we live, the importance of personal safety for females and the need to be informed on developing issues like sexual harassment all make it a necessary and useful read for both ladies and gentlemen.

[Kat]

Not rating this because it's literally just a collection of articles, but this was really interesting! It was nice to be able to revisit this topic and see how it was covered at the time. I read both Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators and She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement this year so it was interesting to read these articles which obviously take a different approach than nonfiction books. It was especially interesting to see this collections connection to She Said because this collection starts with the article Twohey and Kantor wrote for the Times. I would recommend this to people interested in seeing the progression of #MeToo as a news piece and I definitely want to read some of the other collections, especially the fake news one and the opioid epidemic one.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people have heard about the overpowering name of the Me Too movement, but not many people know of the foundation that made it. I learned of a book all about this movement and discovered that it was a unique type of nonfiction. #MeToo: Women Speak out against Sexual Assault was put together by The New York Times editor, Alex Ward. He compiled a hefty amount of articles to inform the reader of the details surrounding the Me Too revolution. These articles give the reader a wide variety of opinions and information that can only be gained from a range of people. The New York Times is uniquely qualified to put together these articles because they are reputable and trusted as a news source. The majority of the book is dry and academic, but includes opinions that add life to the facts.
The book begins with articles about the demise of Harvey Weinstein and how his downfall sparked “The Silence Breakers”. Alyssa Milano started the #MeToo twitter hashtag and Tarana Burke aimed to create a worldwide program. Brave women all around the world accused their abusers with the help of other survivors. The articles put together in the first chapter give the gist of what it was like to be a woman during these times and what lead to this monumental movement. The second chapter goes on to state in a melancholy tone the way that different countries were affected. I learned that not all countries took the idea of sexual misconduct seriously and, for some people, this movement did not change anything. The next series of articles went into thorough details of how this movement affected politics and people’s thoughts. Although it was hard to get through this part, it was a revelation to show how big Me Too truly is. The author then goes into illustrating the criticism against this movement. People claim the Me Too Movement has gone too far and when famous people criticize it, they receive major backlash. The final chapter summarizes the ideas and goals for the future of the movement. One of the more compelling articles in this book, “The Conversation: Seven Women Discuss Work, Fairness, Sex, and Ambition” involves seven feminists discussing what the future holds. The seven women come from all different backgrounds, but they agree that changes need to be made. There is also mention of Time’s Up in an article that states, “… 300 prominent actresses and female agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives have formed an ambitious, sprawling initiative to fight systemic sexual harassment…” (121). It goes on to describe how Time’s Up stems from the Me Too Movement. The piece ends with a final article about one question: Is anything really changing?
Overall, I did not thoroughly enjoy this book. I am not a big fan of nonfiction works in the first place, but I think there were more articles than necessary to get the point across. Some parts became repetitive because multiple articles contained the same ideas and events. As a high school student, these articles were hard to relate to. I think it was made more to inform adults of what they can do in their workplace to stop sexual assault and what is happening all around them. My favorite part was hearing how the whole movement affects different people. It was interesting that some countries totally disregard certain allegations, while others take them seriously. For example, “France’s reluctance to move more aggressively against sexual harassment reveals deeply rooted ideas about sexual relations…” (50) and “In Italy, it’s mostly ‘meh’” (60). In Canada, “…the federal government…has been leading the push to address sexual harassment” (70). Every country has a different idea on how to deal with this issue. My least favorite part of Alex Ward’s selection was the majority of the third chapter. It was all about politics and how politicians deal with the effects of the movement. The majority of this section informs the reader that, “The issue of sexual misconduct has emerged as a centerpiece of Democratic strategy for taking on President Trump and the Republican party” (97). I did not completely understand every political term, so it’s hard to appreciate all of the information given in this chapter. The one point I would change would be the length of the entire book. I don’t think the number of articles included was the amount of articles necessary. There were a few images, but they were primarily of people. They weren’t effective in developing the work’s gist. I would still recommend this book because it provides information that everyone should be aware of. It provides clear information that is difficult to find in one place. I would specifically recommend it to people who have an interest in changing the world for women. #MeToo: Women Speak out against Sexual Assault is unique in many ways and the benefits outweigh the negatives. It is most definitely a worthwhile read.

[Mackenzie Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The social movement of #MeToo could be credited to just one tweet, but that would not be just enough. The movement has been in the process for years before Alyssa Milano’s cry for justice on social media. The book #MeToo: Women Speak Out Against Sexual Assault written and composed by the New York Times Company gives the perfect idea of this reform. After the tweet, it catalyzed for many significant events. More women are placing complaints of sexual misconduct, powerful men are starting to be held accountable for their own actions, and countries all over the world are beginning to pay attention to this crisis. The nonfiction piece compiles the history, responses, effects, criticism, and their next prediction of what will happen next in the #MeToo movement.
The book begins its first chapter with articles from the Harvey Weinstein scandal. One of Hollywood’s most powerful men, Weinstein, had been accused by multiple different women of sexual misconduct and harassment. However, it wasn’t really until actress Alyssa Milano’s tweet, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”, that the movement really took off. An activist, Tarana Burke, stepped forward and the two teamed up to call attention to this worldwide epidemic. The book then transitions to its next chapter titled, “The International Response to #MeToo”. Women and men of countries from all of the world begin to voice their concerns in these articles. India claimed their version of the #MeToo movement had already taken place, Sweden claimed that it was most definitely happening there too, and Italy claimed it wasn’t really a problem in their country. The next collection of articles captured the effect the movement had on both men and the workplace. They started to question themselves, and the little interactions they had with women at work everyday. Some were very exaggerated, while others talked about their real worries.Then the pieces of information transitioned into the criticism of many people, including celebrities such as Matt Damon, Catherine Deneuve, and Margaret Atwood with their opinions that were found hurtful by some from the movement. The book concludes with the best guesses or objectives in the works to insure the reform’s survival.
This book is a fantastic read to open your horizons to the new, accepting, and diverse world we live in today. The New York Times Company includes both factual and opinionated articles about the movement, which is beneficial to the reader to either develop or change their own ideas. Personally, I did enjoy this book and consider it as a decent educational read. However, the accumulation of all the articles did start to become repetitive. It was like reading the same article over and over again. In the criticism chapter of the book, when speaking of Catherine Deneuve, their texts were not only very similar, but next to each other, “Catherine Deneuve and Others Denounce the #MeToo Movement” and “Catherine Deneuve Apologizes to Victims after Denouncing #MeToo” (139-142). The authors did do an amazing job of thoroughly explaining each event, but with total of 42 long articles, it was somewhat of an overkill.I felt that if they had given more articles with opinions, it could have been more interesting to read. The best target audience is definitely young adults or adults, but this book also requires an open mind. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this book to any with the slightest interest. It is a mind-altering read.

[Sheila Guevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many American women, I've been dealing with sexual harassment and abuse since I was a young child. It was the price of being born female. We learn to cope. To deflect. To avoid. We learn to take responsibility when boys and men won't.

#MeToo finally opened the doors to stand up publicly.

This is a collection of articles from the New York Times covering the topic.

I found it fascinating.

But also, heart breaking. The story about Italy and how culturally acceptable this behavior still is was actually shocking to me. Then so many other countries where little to no change is expected.

Even as Americans, the fear for me is that #MeToo will follow the way of other big headlines, like school shootings. Instead of change; instead of having this topic out in the open; instead of seeing men stand up with the women to demand this behavior be punishable by fines and jail time, the movement will slow down and vanish. And decades from now, young girls to old women will still be facing unwanted attention and threats.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of articles, all from the New York Times and mostly from a relatively short timespan of late 2017 into 2018. I liked how it was organized, with the initial articles after the hashtag first exploded, then responses to the movement, impacts around the world, and thinking about what next. I wish there had been a little bit more context to the articles besides just the short paragraph at the start of each section. Because this is recent history, I didn't necessarily need it to read the book and make sense of things, but it would make it a more long-standing collection if there was some sort of reference timeline or a few more editorial notes. There is some repetition in the articles, since they were originally stand-alone pieces, but the collection does a nice job of putting the major headlines into an understandable order.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was made up of articles so there was some repetition. It was interesting to hear more about the movement in other countries. Hopefully this is a movement that continues on and more women are believed but best would be when there comes a time where sexual assault becomes extremely rare.

[Ariana Sanders]

Not sure you can rate a collection of news articles but I found it very helpful to find some articles to share with students and have a good chronological foundation for teaching #MeToo in my class next year!

[Grace Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small read on a big topic. These are articles pro and con that document the #metoo movement. It was a concise and well organized review. New York Times book.