Women's rights have increasingly been a hot topic of debate over the years and only in 2006, a moment called MeToo emerged in the underbelly of the Internet. It started as something small on Myspace, the purpose of which was to raise awareness about an issue faced primarily by women, that of sexual harassment or assault. However, the movement truly became the juggernaut it is today after a social media campaign was started in response to public allegations of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein. This brought a storm to Hollywood, the MeToo movement was at the forefront of every American household. However, every movement has flaws, and it's important to remember that while social revolutions are often led by smart, amazing, talented, and lucky people, the terrors of history mean that society fails to create perfect moments and execute them flawlessly. These things are generally chaotic, largely out-of-control movements that can easily fester if they remain structureless and become corrupted by core intentions. The MeToo movement has involved a style of mob mentality, which has made the movement both incredibly progressive and a double-edged sword that holds extremely dangerous consequences for those on the receiving end of the movement's wrath. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Our affinity for being social was linked to evolution because an outcast was more likely to be eaten by a predator or have more difficulty obtaining food. In the mob mentality, each individual diffuses responsibility by thinking that someone else will probably have the courage to think or act correctly. Self-awareness mixes and we begin to merge our identity with the group. Any antagonism or deviation is misinterpreted as a personal attack. Groupthink supplants our critical abilities and the flow of ideas becomes authentic. This can be a psychological thing that many people in society face. In an article about how individuals in society confine themselves to mob mentality, Megan Donley states: “When in a large group, people tend to experience a diffusion of responsibility. Typically, the larger a crowd, the more its members lose self-awareness and become willing to engage in dangerous behavior.” (Donley) Now with social media, people are able to hide behind a screen and too often where there is a controversial video with a thousand comments underneath where people are expressing their opinions on what happened without having no context or any additional information about what happened. situation. There was a time when “jumping to conclusions” was optically perceived as an unintelligent and uneducated move that was generally shunned by the general population. Now, with the high use of social media, we have weaponized a culture of mob mentality where no one checks the facts and simply bases opinions on what they see superficially instead of gathering lots of facts to formulate their own prejudices. Additionally, news agencies were tasked with maintaining an impartial presentation of current events to inform the public of events occurring in their worlds; however, everything is clickbait for ratings. Today it simply boils down to the fact that framing a situation in the most polarizing way possible gets a better emotional reaction from people. This impacts hard on how good social movementsare met with resistance, further leading to the regression of our society as a whole. This type of mob mentality has had a negative impact on the MeToo moment, giving a great cause a dark side. People who post “#MeToo” say I have been sexually harassed or assaulted. It is meant to signify a sense of solidarity among victims of sexual abuse in order to make people feel comfortable talking about it and the ability to bring guilty perpetrators to justice. However, I think the way the #Metoo movement has tried to achieve this has taken a wrong path that contradicts the fundamental principle of our culture that people are innocent until proven guilty. It is generally agreed that there are considerable disparities in legal and social norms, but the cornerstone of innocence until proven guilty has been firmly placed at the foundation of the modern philosophy of social justice. This movement has been subverted by the campaign pushing the idea that victims are validated simply by coming forward. That word must be believed without evidence, otherwise you will be shamed into being a victim-blamer, misogynist, or rape apologist. Under no circumstances should victims be blamed for making accusations, but over the last year or so, after the accusations surfaced and were confirmed, we have seen many people rightly stripped of their status in society by the social construct of herding versus 'accused without any factual evidence. . Let's be clear, no victim should ever feel ashamed; however, these large numbers of people who ridicule the accused should be allowed to violate both the judicial process and personal life. One article describes how public shaming incorrectly, without facts can be unjustified“Due to the mob mentality that accompanies public shaming events, there is often very little information about the target, sometimes just a single tweet. Yet there is a presumption of guilt and a rapid move towards justice, without any trial to establish the facts. Instead of remaining neutral and simply describing a public shaming, newsrooms are on firmer journalistic ground when they come forward with a point of view, usually by saying the shaming is unjustified.” (McBride) So social opinion should be the judge, jury and executioner? When it comes to society, it is quite worrying that people are unable to distinguish what sexual harassment and assault is, or use the energy for their own personal gain instead of discussing the issue sincerely. This model has also created a situation where people can have their lives turned upside down by public opinion before they can face their accuser or contest the charges against them or have a full investigation of the case, be it illegal or administrative. Aziz Ansari's story was by far the worst of the MeToo campaign and a prime example of people abusing the campaign for personal reasons. Aziz Ansari's accuser claims Ansari repeatedly "forced" her to have sexual intercourse, which they did not have, and to have oral sex, which she claims he did. But she later said she simply felt uncomfortable with the way Ansari was approaching her, suggesting he wanted to have sex. Now yes, Ansari should learn from this and become a better person, which he did, but unfortunately in the process he was labeled a rapist along the way. In a recent skit he addressed the situation (NAME) reports “He spoke about the consequences of the accusations with sincerity and humility, explaining once again that this made himmade me “a better person”. But disappointingly, he stopped short of addressing any alleged behavior, expressing regret for how the woman felt. "(NAME) This is something that has created a situation where people can have their lives turned upside down in the court of public opinion before they can. confront the victim or dispute the charges against her or do a full investigation on the case, be it criminal or administrative. There have been situations where students have been forced to leave school because their experiences on campus have been tainted by public outcry, even though university research has cleared their name causes innocent people to be cast out of society for unverifiable claims, whether because of the age of the accuser or lack of evidence, or because of the #MeToo movement forcing them to believe the victim without questioning them people's lives are left in chaos. The #MeToo movement, while having its flaws, has shown how sexual abuse is common, because people who have not experienced it think it is an isolated incident. I think the #Metoo movement has gone hand in hand with recognition and acknowledgment of the many, many victims of sexual assault and violence out there, women and men. This is an absolutely crucial initiative that exposes sexual abuse as a very personal issue, and it takes a lot of courage to stand up and admit that you have been raped, especially when the perpetrator is an authority figure, a parent or even someone who themselves. trusted. As a society that will continue to value the victims out there, as we should; we should also continue to try to provide services to return these survivors to a comfortable state. But the #MeToo movement has more to do than deter criminals. The campaign allowed victims to feel less alone, less ashamed and more willing to come forward. While it is certainly true that a suspected innocent suspect can be negatively influenced by public opinion during his trial, this can also negatively influence a sincere defendant. In almost all cases, there are people who do not believe the accuser and who will try to shame him, embarrass him, or ruin his reputation and call him a liar. The campaign has also helped alleviate some of the obstacles facing sincere accusers and, as a result, more and more potential offenders have been identified. Additionally, this movement has also helped identify ways in which our society can allow sexual violence to occur. This makes potential victims more alert and trained, while potential predators think twice about what they can get away with. Society needs to know that the men who commit these assaults are not always the people we think they might be. They are not all monsters and predators, these people are part of the everyday society that has become part of our culture. Finally, a Harvard study shows that this freight train of movement has triggered the emergence of other areas of inequality stating: “As allegations continue to explode through the burgeoning #MeToo social media movement, many observers question whether the nation is finally starting to address gender inequality.” (Pazzanese, Walsh) That said, we must do our best to follow this movement with caution. All eyes are on every step taken, and while every victory is great, every incident represents double defeat for the movement. Although it may seem unfair, it is in the society we live in that good must always lead the way. Please note: this is just an example. Get one now.