#metoo
You may or may not be aware of the campaign to promote awareness of sexual harassment that has been all over our social media pages.
Following the Harvey Weinstein allegations and in eerie similarity to the Jimmy Savile case, we are seeing the fallout of one person speaking out. A light has been shone and we start to discover a whole underbelly of abuse and harassment that both women and men have been subjected too.
Actress, Alyssa Alano suggested that if everyone who had experienced sexual harassment put #metoo, it may give people the sense of the magnitude of the problem.
At Shine our main objective is to see every young woman believe that she is valuable, has skills and talents to offer, understands her ability to make good choices and discovers the unique beauty in herself and others unencumbered by societies preconceptions.
We never want to see the young women we work with subjected to some of the experiences being alleged by Hollywood’s leading ladies.
So how do we prevent this from happening again?
1. Educate
Consent, Consent, Consent! Please watch the link attached, if you know of any young people show it to them! It is a great analogy and really helpful in promoting the understanding on consent.
2. Empower
I recently watched Reese Witherspoon at Glamour’s women of the year talking about her ambition. Reese wanted to make movies with women in strong lead roles. She was told that this was not possible; that it would not make any money.
She proved them all wrong. Reese set up her own production company and has gone from success to success.
Not only is she a great role model she is also putting films out there that show women can be strong, independent and empowered.
Our young women need to see this, they need to see women in roles of responsibility and power, giving them a new perspective and expectation of what they can achieve.
3. Engage
Be the role models; it doesn’t matter if you are 15 or 65, don’t stand by, and don’t accept. If you see it, say it.
Harassment is just another form of bullying and it is never acceptable. I am 40 years old now and my friends and I all have our #metoo stories. What if when we were being victimized a person who had been educated and empowered had stepped in to help. What if they had stood up for us when we couldn’t? This is the kind of hashtag I want instead for our future generations #stoodup.