How the #MeToo movement started
A social activist and community organizer began using the phrase #MeToo in 2006 to raise awareness for women who had been abused at their workplace. More than a decade later, it found global recognition after a viral tweet by an actress, one of the women who accused a topmost Hollywood producer of sexual assault. This movement talks not only about rape, sexual assault and abuse in workplaces but also about gender parity and an equal pay system.
#MeToo movement projects the rights of both genders, contrary to how it has been perceived to mostly be used by the female gender.
#MeToo movement and its impact on the cinematic world
The impact of the MeToo movement has been seen all around the world, especially in the film industry. This woke movement has brought about a wave of awareness, where people are not only talking but are inquiring about their rights. Most importantly, people are demanding protection rights in their legal contracts and equal pay standards.
Our neighbouring industry, Bollywood, has also experienced the brunt of MeToo, whereby celebrities working within the entertainment sector have suffered the consequences after being accused of sexual misconduct. Before this, in America, there was a successful The Time’s Up campaign, where a significant amount of legal defence funds was collected to fight court cases for such victims. All prominent top tier celebrities were seen joining hands and using their collective voice and social media platforms to back this up.
Domestically, we saw the ‘cancel’ culture in our industry, which is a byproduct of this movement. Awareness was spread through social media platforms, where the public takes such matters into their own hands and decides to ‘cancel’ anyone involved in such heinous acts. We have also seen huge celebrities, famous politicians, influencers and many more who came under fire and a segment of Pakistanis has expressed the resolve to no longer support or watch them.
The global impact of the #MeToo movement has been enormous all over the world. The survivors got a chance to tell their stories and numerous legislative bills have been passed all over the world.
Anoushey Ashraf’s take on Feminism
Anoushey Ashraf, a famous VJ, RJ, actress and host admits that she had more of an ignorant approach for misjudging feminism at the start of her career. She is now not only a staunch supporter of the female liberation movement but also strongly opposes the prevalent patriarchy system. Regardless of her views, which often make headlines, Anoushey Ashraf knows how to remain politically correct and understands her power through her celebrity status. She knows how to manage her most spontaneous stances on situations with utmost grace.
Speaking to Express Tribune, the VJ drew an interesting parallel between inherent privilege and how the lack of the same makes girls working in the entertainment industry soft targets. She understands her position in the industry as a privileged personality. She highlighted that she has attended the best educational institutions and her father owned cooking oil factories, so she joined the industry coming from a well-settled family. Anoushey said: “We were also less vulnerable. However, women around us, who came from relatively less privileged households, were regularly molested, propositioned, given lesser money and odd jobs”.
She also touched upon the recent gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam, as well as the incident at Minar-e-Pakistan and felt that in the current scenario, even women with privilege seem to be unsafe. She added: “When they were ripping her clothes off I felt like I was being touched and violated. You have to be a woman to understand what that feels like.” She urged people not to label each other as conservatives or liberals, especially in matters of sexual assault and refrain from asking what the victim was wearing.
Anoushey added that women continue to share their personal struggles with her on social media. She said: “I tell them, just because our parents, mothers, grandmothers stayed in abusive marriages, doesn’t mean we should too. Not to mention, women are just more aware of their rights now, and men don’t know how to handle that. So they’re shouting. But we won’t let them overpower our voices anymore.”
Conclusive remarks
The feminism movement is to stop maintaining silence over such heinous issues, just because one is not directly affected by them due to their privilege is akin to empowering the same rotten and unjust system. We, as a society, share the burden of failure to condemn oppression.
One must appreciate Anoushey Ashraf and the likes who lend their voice to this cause. We earnestly hope that more celebrities would come forward with clear stances on such issues, regardless of whether or not they attract criticism from the more reactionary segments of our population.
