This is turning out to be a sad stretch of days for the #MeToo movement.
First, there are the increasingly credible allegations against Asia Argento, an alleged victim of Harvey Weinstein who rocketed to prominence last year for her leadership role in #MeToo. Argento is accused of having sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old boy, whom she admits to settling with for a reported $380,000. Argento’s guilt aside, the comparatively patient reactions to the allegations from other #MeToo leaders drew criticism this week, and rightfully so.
Then there’s the ongoing Avital Ronell saga, in which noteworthy feminists have gone to bat for a prominent New York University professor determined by the school to be guilty of sexual harassment against a male student.
In both cases, the feminists defending their own are exhibiting behavior the community routinely criticizes from others.
But I actually think another development ultimately signals a trend of more consequence. Kelsey Harkness of The Daily Signal reports that Time’s Up — the legal defense fund founded by powerful denizens of the entertainment industry to tackle Hollywood’s sexual harassment problem — just announced it “will partner with a coalition of women’s groups to rise up and speak out against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”
It’s not a surprising development (see here and here), but it’s an unfortunate one. Unlike the broader feminist movement, #MeToo almost made it a year without transforming into a de facto organ of the Democratic Party. And although it was clearly built on some measure of institutional progressive bias, Time’s Up actually seemed promising at its founding. So much for that.
“We are in a moment where women’s voices really do matter. #TIMESUP, #MeToo, it’s about women’s voices. It’s about the ability of women and men to tell their stories, to be heard… And Judge Kavanaugh is such a horrible choice because he does not value women.” –@SenGillibrand
— TIME’S UP (@TIMESUPNOW) August 22, 2018
#MeToo’s success was fueled in large part by its inclusivity, fighting for victims and against perpetrators regardless of their political affiliations. The rapid rise of #MeToo contrasted instructively with the ongoing decline of the feminist movement, which had grown to exclude anyone to the right of Noam Chomsky.
Time’s Up is #MeToo’s institutional support structure, so its move to join the Kavanaugh fight is a strong signal of partisanship. Co-opting an anti-sexual misconduct group to battle the Kavanaugh nomination is unwise, though understandably tempting for the wealthy progressive feminists in control of the organization. As Harkness wrote, “workplace sexual harassment and abuse doesn’t care about your politics, your skin tone, your financial background, your education, your income, or your religion. It has the ability to affect us all.”
#MeToo and Time’s Up’s best strategy would be to remain nonpartisan and inclusive, and train their focus specifically on the cause of sexual misconduct. Not only would that be their best strategy for maintaining their relevance, but it would be their best strategy for serving the important cause they represent. If #MeToo loses favor outside progressive circles, it will be a loss to women around the country who could stand to benefit greatly from a robust and credible movement.
