Beginning and Evolution of the #MeToo Movement as Seen though Critical Discourse Analysis and its Effect on the Shift of Power in the Hollywood Industry as a Result

Abstract

On October 5th 2017 the life of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein changed forever after The New York Times newspaper published an extensive article detailing the sexual abuse he had been inflicting on women in the entertainment industry for decades. The victims of the abuse who openly spoke about it at first were a beacon of light to countless other women who came forth to claim they had been abused. It was this outpouring of public statements in the media across the world that brought back the me too movement now rebranded under the #MeToo tag. The other side of so many women reporting sexual abuse or misconduct in the film industry is the increasing long list of men accused of such reported actions, these men are publicly denounced as undesirable and therefore shunned from their workplaces and their previous social status regardless of their power, wealth or fame. This unusual social atmosphere has created a unique window of opportunity for women in the industry to open a social dialogue on the disparity between men and women in many aspects of society. Women in the U.S.A. have taken on a social crusade that has been spread through the media across the world inspiring millions of other women to do so as well. The #MeToo movement initially encouraged victims of sexual abuse to be public about the abuse, although now it is part of a larger picture, the fight to stop the abuse generated by gender inequality.