About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2020 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1327 (2020)
#MeToo: A Look at the Influence and Limits of 'Hashtag Activism' to Effectuate Legal Change

handle is hein.journals/unilllr2020 and id is 1349 raw text is: #METOO: A LOOK AT THE INFLUENCE AND LIMITS OF HASHTAG ACTIVISM TO EFFECTUATE LEGAL CHANGE ANN NENOFF* #MeToo was a hashtag posted on social media by men and women to share that they have been victims of sexual assault or harassment. The Me Too movement was started by Tarana Burke long before the hashtag was created, and #MeToo is just one example of the use of the hashtag, a social media tool, to launch a topic into the center-stage of media attention. Sex- ual harassment and assault are illegal under federal and state laws. Fed- eral law and state law, however, are not always the same and each state may have laws that differs from other states. The Me Too movement seeks to accomplish changes in such laws, and the hashtag has been instrumental in that process. This Note discusses the history and rise of the hashtag, as well as its usefulness and limitations as a tool to propel and help create legal change through the lens of the #MeToo movement. This Note focuses on federal, California, and Mississippi laws as examples of the changes, or lack thereof to sexual harassment laws because of the #MeToo movement, and advocates for changes to sexual harassment and assault laws in ways that focus on empowering victims and that align with the goals of the Me Too movement. This includes, but is not limited to, encouraging advocates to focus on state-level political and legal changes, and advocating for standardized definitions of terms regarding sexual assault and harassment. Finally, this Note recognizes that while hashtags may not be sufficient on their own, they are an important tool and can be utilized in many ways to bring about desired social and legal change. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1328 II. BACKGROUND.......................................................................................1330 A . H istory of the H ashtag.................................................................. 1330 B . H ashtag A ctivism .......................................................................... 1332 C. The #MeToo Movement ................................................................ 1335 D. Laws ............................................................................................. 1338 III. ANALYSIS .............................................................................................1340 A. Current Sexual Discrimination, Harassment, and Abuse Laws ... 1340 1. Federal Laws ......................................................................... 1340 2. California and Mississippi State Laws .................................. 1342 * J.D. Candidate 2020, University of Illinois College of Law. 1327

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most