TIME Magazine's 2017 Person of the Year: The Silence Breakers #MeToo

This is my first time to create a thread, so I hope it's in the right place. If not, will a mod/admin please move it to the right spot? Thank you!!

The story includes testimony and reporting on dozens of people, from all walks of life, who experienced sexual harassment and/or sexual assault, rape, threats of violence and more on the job. Much of it against the law.

Just a few of the subjects are hotel employees, famous musicians, news anchors, actors, college students and employees, politicians, reporters, as well as depth on company policies, training, liability, fallout, change, analysis, etc.

Excellent piece!

It's a long and worthwhile read, imo.

THE SILENCE BREAKERS

BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK, ELIANA DOCKTERMAN AND HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILLY & HELLS FOR TIME

These silence breakers have started a revolution of refusal, gathering strength by the day, and in the past two months alone, their collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced.

In some cases, criminal charges have been brought.

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The women and men who have broken their silence span all races, all income classes, all occupations and virtually all corners of the globe. They might labor in California fields, or behind the front desk at New York City's regal Plaza Hotel, or in the European Parliament. They're part of a movement that has no formal name.

But now they have a voice.

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Nearly all of the people TIME interviewed about their experiences expressed a crushing fear of what would happen to them personally, to their families or to their jobs if they spoke up.

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Those who are often most vulnerable in society — immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income workers and LGBTQ people — described many types of dread. If they raised their voices, would they be fired?

Would their communities turn against them?

Would they be killed?

According to a 2015 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 47 percent of transgender people report being sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, both in and out of the workplace.

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Many of the people who have come forward also mentioned a different fear, one less visceral but no less real, as a reason for not speaking out: if you do, your complaint becomes your identity.

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Discussions of sexual harassment in polite company tend to rely on euphemisms: harassment becomes "inappropriate behavior," assault becomes "misconduct," rape becomes "abuse."

We're accustomed to hearing those softened words, which downplay the pain of the experience.

That's one of the reasons why the Access Hollywood tape that surfaced in October 2016 was such a jolt. The language used by the man who would become America's 45th President, captured on a 2005 recording, was, by any standard, vulgar. He didn't just say that he'd made a pass; he "moved on her like a *****." He didn't just talk about fondling women; he bragged that he could "grab 'em by the p***y."


That Donald Trump could express himself that way and still be elected President is part of what stoked the rage that fueled the Women's March the day after his Inauguration.

It's why women seized on that crude word as the emblem of the protest that dwarfed Trump's Inauguration crowd size.

"All social movements have highly visible precipitating factors," says Aldon Morris, a professor of sociology at Northwestern University. "In this case, you had Harvey Weinstein, and before that you had Trump."

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Here's the cover:

The Choice: TIME's editor-in-chief on why The Silence Breakers are the Person of the Year
by EDWARD FELSENTHAL

It became a hashtag, a movement, a reckoning. But it began, as great social change nearly always does, with individual acts of courage.

The actor who went public with the story of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s “coercive bargaining” in a Beverly Hills hotel suite two decades earlier.

The strawberry picker who heard that story and decided to tell her own.

The young engineer whose blog post about the frat-boy culture at Silicon Valley’s highest-flying startup prompted the firing of its founder and 20 other employees.

The California lobbyist whose letter campaign spurred more than 140 women in politics to demand that state government “no longer tolerate the perpetrators or enablers” of sexual misconduct.

A music superstar’s raw, defiant court testimony about the disc jockey who groped her.

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We are in the middle of the beginning of this upheaval. There is so much that we still don’t know about its ultimate impact. How far-reaching will it be? How deep into the country? How far down the organizational chart? Will there be a backlash?

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I am in awe of those who continue to speak out against sexual harassment and abuse. The #MeToo movement may be the catalyst for change in this country and the world. I am proud of the efforts of these survivors. Time made the right choice.

I agree. I'm inspired by these, and all, survivors, and everyone everywhere who has risen up to support them and advocate for change. It's time.

The magazine definitely made the right choice. Gonna buy myself several copies. This is a landmark issue, both figuratively and literally.

That said, I'm kinda curious to see if there's any blowback about it. So far, I've seen little. ...

kaen said:

I am in awe of those who continue to speak out against sexual harassment and abuse. The #MeToo movement may be the catalyst for change in this country and the world. I am proud of the efforts of these survivors. Time made the right choice.

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EuTuCroquet? said:

I agree. I'm inspired by these, and all, survivors, and everyone everywhere who has risen up to support them and advocate for change. It's time.

The magazine definitely made the right choice. Gonna buy myself several copies. This is a landmark issue, both figuratively and literally.

That said, I'm kinda curious to see if there's any blowback about it. So far, I've seen little. ...

Click to expand...

I agree. Changing times, at last. I admit that part of me is concerned about backlash (and deniers and victim-blamers). But we gotta get through some of that backlash to move forward.

I wish Time had included a man too because men have been victims too. This is a gender issue, of course, but mainly it's a power issue. We're divided enough in this country right now and having a division between the sexes really isn't going to help us move forward.

But, yes, great decision on Person/People of the Year.

jmo and metoo

I have often attributed Trump's ascent and eventual election to the presidency to social media, and the culture that FB-like apps have created. Without steering this into THAT kind of political discussion, I just wanted to say how odd this struck me when I heard it this morning. Quite odd and, frankly, disappointed at first. Disappointed that once again social media has taken the place of something more genuine. But as I sat with it, thought about it, considered the implications, I, like you who have posted upthread, now embrace this. I agree it is huge and I hope that it is just the beginning of the revolution we need when it comes to issues like these.

'I Was Angry.' Taylor Swift on What Powered Her Sexual Assault Testimony

http://time.com/5049659/taylor-swift-interview-person-of-the-year-2017/

I mentioned upthread that I'm worried about backlash, and I'm worried the solutions of firing everyone who is accused isn't the best solution.

Some women making the accusations state that they did go to management and/or HR and nothing was done. If a company fires the offender, but doesn't change the culture, the problem is not solved.

Management needs to put on some big-boy and big-girl pants (pun intended) and make some changes in workplace culture, and realize they themselves are going to have to change.

I worked for a company that had a policy that office doors could not be closed, ever. Doors had to be open at least a crack. It was an easy policy for people to follow and was a constant but subtle reminder that professional behavior was expected. It didn't cost a dime to implement, either.

jmo