The difference between the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the past and the #MeToo movement of now is an increased audience due to social media-whereas survivors would previously tell their stories to foster solidarity and healing with each other, today, there is an added layer of telling stories for non-survivors, outsiders of that experience of trauma. #MeToo, the movement that was created in 2006 by anti-rape activist Tarana Burke and exploded in 2017 after Milano tweeted the hashtag in the wake of allegations against Hollywood giant Harvey Weinstein, is arguably an extension of this feminist tradition, mediated through social media and making visible the instances of sexual violence in the workplace and elsewhere.
The importance of self-narrative storytelling for the fight against sexual violence cannot be understated: Telling one's story and hearing stories from other women was the foundation of the first feminist consciousness-raising groups in New York and Chicago.
This brings fresh questions to the fight against sexual violence, as authors, readers, and sexual violence activists negotiate the increased visibility for the cause and their stories. Though memoirs about sexual violence have existed for decades, creating a space for survivors to tell their stories, the celebrity endorsement of the fight against sexual violence by Hollywood survivors like Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan has opened up space for art and media about sexual violence in the mainstream landscape.įrom memoirs written by survivors of highly visible cases- Brave by Rose McGowan, Know My Name by Chanel Miller, Consent by Vanessa Springora-to more localized narratives of violation and its lifelong effects- Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay, Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco, Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz-the self-narrative about sexual trauma has found a new marketability under the #MeToo umbrella. The #MeToo memoir has become a genre of sorts since the explosion of the movement in October 2017.