To struggle with #metoo

[BookyBook]

Is anyone else struggling with this?

I can't even articulate why and why I am so reluctant to post #metoo myself, although don't want to not either. My FB thread is full of it and I didn't realise it was a thing to do until yesterday and it has completely blindsided me.

Having said that I think it makes a very strong point, I just feel a little teary about seeing all the #metoos today in a way that is making me relive my own experiences that I have trained myself not to think about too much usually.

Is anyone else the same?

I'm struggling as well. I can't quite articulate it.

I agree with this.

Absolutely the same. Someone on twitter posted this and I think it goes some way to explaining how I feel...

‘Reminder that if a woman didn't post #MeToo, it doesn't mean she wasn't sexually assaulted or harassed. Survivors don't owe you their story.’

The best I can come up with is that I don't like seeing something that I hold so close turning into a hashtag but even that isn't quite it

Crossed with above!

It's to shock people in to realising how common sexual harassment/assault and rape is.

I think it's a clever idea, I can't bring myself to do it though.

Of course I could post #metoo (I assume all working women could, unfortunately) but I’m finding it a bit too #icebucketchallenge

Some bloke on my facebook is saying that women who haven't been assaulted should pipe up with #NotMe so that people can see that for every woman who says #MeToo there is 100 who haven't been.

I can see totally where you're coming from. Its all over fb but I have no intention what so ever of joining in. Just makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit attention seeking to be honest

I struggle with any trend on Facebook that claims to 'raise awareness', whilst not actually doing anything.

Kitty

I think he must live in dreamland.

This whole thing makes me really sad for my daughter. In a way knowing it is as widespread as it is makes me feel worse, not better

I've seen a few responses that I feel uncomfortable with

A few "let's spread positively instead of negativity" statuses

And a few "let's not forget men suffer from sexual harassment too" statuses

I usually avoid these bandwagon things like the plague, but #Metoo is the only time I actually agree with using social media to highlight an important issue. People like to hide their head in the sand about the full impact of sexual assault and harassment, so maybe seeing SO many women (almost every one of my female facebook friends) will highlight the severity.

I find social media things like this difficult too. I've never been sexually assaulted though. I'd like to support the women who have, I'm just not sure social media is the right place to do it. I think this is heightened for me by the fact that there is someone on my Facebook making things up about it too. She is like that, a bit of a Facebook activist. Never breastfed her children but posts about the discrimination she faced when she did. She's posting now about an 'assault' that she told me a couple of years ago she'd made up. I don't know. I'm just furious that my daughter's are growing up in a world where theblikelyhood of them being assaulted is high.

I agree with you peanut in theory .. like I said my response might not be rational!

I struggle with it because whilst I understand that the idea is to 'shock people' into realising how frequently and pervasive it is, that's not news to most women. So who are we trying to shock? Men? I don't feel comfortable sharing intimate information, however vaguely it's couched, with a group of people whose only excuse for not knowing how common it is is wilful bloody ignorance.

Totally agree with the OP.

That doesn't mean I don't admire the idea or the people who have participated. I just can't do it myself and I struggle with articulating just why that is.

I think it's a good idea but it's not for me. I'm absolutely fine and the last thing I want is sad emojis or u ok hon. Also, my family are on there and it's not something I choose to discuss with them.

BookyBook your response is perfectly rational. Everyone handles this issue in their own way, and that's fine, and should be encouraged. The fact that you feel the way you do is not only an example of what an emotional issue it is, but also maybe an example of why it needs to be done.

I don't feel comfortable sharing intimate information, however vaguely it's couched, with a group of people whose only excuse for not knowing how common it is is wilful bloody ignorance.

This! This goes some way to helping me pinpoint how I feel.

Respect to those to have posted though.

I think many me live in dreamland - and the majority who have done so don't think of it as assault. They carry on, never considering the impact of their actions.
I worked with a man who once told me that he worked on the 'how would I feel if someone did that to my daughter' way of thinking about how he behaved around women, which I thought was a good start.

I agree with you OP.

That's ridiculous kitty

Just as someone on my SM 'called out' a male friend for using it as only women should when she fully well knows what he has been through.

I doubt you'd find anyone who didn't enter a convent at a very young age (and not even all those women) to say "notmetoo"

Which is a sad state of affairs.

It makes me feel uncomfortable too but I'm finding it hard to explain why.

I think it might be because (in my mind anyway) it kind of makes a nonsense out of something that's really bloody serious.

Simply typing '#Metoo' doesn't mean anything, given the amount of people on FB who will just post/share anything because it's the latest 'Facebook thing'.