#MeToo – Has the ‘sisterhood’ finally become global or just another product of neoliberal feminism? Farnush Ghadery
[email protected] LSS, Law School London South Bank University Abstract: The article discusses the #MeToo movement by reflecting on its origins and recent developments to consider its position within feminist theory. On the one hand, the cross- border proliferation of this hashtag revived the question once posed by liberal feminist Robin Morgan: Has the ‘sisterhood’ finally become global? Others questioned the deeper meaning of the ‘me’ as part of #MeToo, wondering whether the need for individual responsibility to come forward indicates that the movement fits only too well with what has been coined neoliberal feminism. Disagreeing with both categorisations, the article positions #MeToo as a transnational feminist consciousness-raising endeavour which can be traced across different places worldwide. Referring to some of these contextualised uses of #MeToo, the article argues that #MeToo has been able to manifest itself as a transnational feminist phenomenon, as it has allowed groups in distinct spaces and localities to take ownership of the varying manifestations of #MeToo. Keywords: #metoo – feminism – feminist legal theory – sexual harassment – digital activism – transnational movements – transnational law #MeToo – Has the ‘sisterhood’ finally become global or just another product of neoliberal feminism? Farnush Ghadery I. Introduction It is now a year and a half ago that the revelation of sexual violence and harassment amongst the bold and the beautiful in Hollywood1 led to the hashtag ‘MeToo’ going viral. This event permitted the laywoman and layman to share their own story of sexual violence or to ‘just’ express that they, too, have been subjected to forms of sexual abuse by tweeting or sharing on Facebook, Instagram and other forms of social media the now famous expression of #MeToo.