Me Too Movement
In the past 10 years women’s empowerment has grown and there has been a rise in breaking the stigma surrounding sexual assault with the hashtag #MeToo. Founder of movement Tarana Burke created the ‘Me Too’ movement back in 2006, but due to cases such as the Harvey Weinstein allegations, the movement has made its strongest impression in the past decade.
Burke visited the University of Nevada, Reno on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018 to share her experience as a survivor of sexual abuse and what makes ‘Me Too’ special to her and survivors across the nation. The event was sponsored by the Joe Crowley Student Union, Nevada Cares and the Panhellenic Council.
She explained her activism stemed from her own experiences of sexual assault and her parents being activists as well.
By creating ‘Me Too’ Burke said it was a way to create pathways of healing for survivors by creating a community of activists.
Despite starting in 2006, the hashtag and movement blew up in 2017 when Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexually assaulting and harassing various women, including actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. Within 24 hours of the allegations over 12 million people commented, posted and reacted to the hashtag Me Too on Facebook on Oct. 15, 2017.
According to the offical ‘Me Too’ website, within six months of the creation of the hashtag in 2017, it has created a national dialogue.
“What started as local grassroots work has expanded to reach a global community of survivors from all walks of life and helped to de-stigmatize the act of surviving by highlighting the breadth and impact of sexual violence worldwide,” according to the website.
The movement has inspired actresses, political officials and public figures to be open about their experiences of sexual assault by creating an environment that openly discusses systematic changes and sparking a national discourse about workplace sexual harassment.
-Andrew Mendez
One Direction’s Breakup
All trends come back around, including boy bands. In 2010, the British talent show, The X-Factor, grouped 5 boys together and formed One Direction, the NEW boy band.
One Direction saw intense success very quickly, even though they didn’t win the show. Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Niall Horan released 4 albums together and did 3 world tours, until Malik’s exit from the band in March 2015. The remaining four members produced an additional album and toured one more time.
The band announced they would be taking a year long break in 2016. However, they did not return to the music scene as a band, leaving Directioners across the globe devastated for reunification of their favorite boy band. However, all 5 have experimented with solo careers to varying degrees of success.
-Olivia Ali
Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress
The VMAs have acquired a cornucopia of defining moments over the years and Gaga definitely made all of our pop culture dreams come true when she wore a gown made of raw flank steak in 2010.
Like most assumed, it wasn’t just another head turning outfit. The meat served as a protest against the military’s discriminatory “don’t ask don’t tell” policy and the superstar actually arrived to the event with four soldiers who had been discharged because of it.
When she accepted Video of the Year for “Bad Romance” and asked Cher to hold her meat purse, Gaga sang an a capella snippet of her new song, “Born This Way,” which later turned into our generation’s anthem of acceptance and self worth.
As Gaga told Ellen DeGeneres after the show, “If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, if we don’t fight for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.”
-Rylee Jackson
Tupac Hologram
During Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s set at the 2012 Coachella Music Festival, Tupac Shakur was temporarily resurrected in a moment which took the Internet by storm and is still discussed close to a decade later.
Using a modernized Pepper’s Ghost effect, a seemingly three-dimensional projection of 2Pac rose from beneath the stage and greeted Dre and Snoop before acknowledging the Coachella crowd—completing the surreal effect of the dead performer being “live” in concert.
While this trend hasn’t caught on—probably for reasons of taste and legal issues with dead artists’ estates—the moment serves as a testament to technology’s ability for allowing us to access our past.
–Matt Cotter
The Sagebrush Staff can be reached at ryleejackson@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.
