Weinstein, #MeToo, and the Culture That Never Lets Survivors Forget

A longtime Hollywood secret was made public by a pair of features in The New York Times and The New Yorker, detailing decades worth of rape and sexual assault allegations against multi-millionaire producer Harvey Weinstein.

The backlash against Weinstein has spawned a hydra of conversations on rape culture in Hollywood and the media, survivor’s guilt, the performance of male allyship, and more.

On one hand, these conversations have yielded tangible benefits. There is no doubt that the severity of the backlash against Weinstein gave others the confidence to speak up and be treated with legitimacy. Björk penned a letter on her Facebook page citing abuse by a “Danish director” (she has only worked with one Danish director in the history of her acting career). Indie band Real Estate revealed they fired former guitarist Matt Mondanile due to allegations of sexual misconduct with various women. Twitter is littered with rumblings of similar high-profile allegations against individuals yet to be named.

The tide is, in some ways, turning. No, the culture at large is far from remodeling itself into anything remotely safe for women and marginalized identities. Yet, now more than ever, women are aggregating their strength and using it to demand consequences for those who have repeatedly…