#MeToo is the opposite of #WomenBoycottTwitter and that’s why it’s working

Thousands of people are using #MeToo on Twitter to share their stories of sexual assault and sexual harrassment.

The hashtag is hoping to highlight the massive number of people who have experienced sexual violence and prove to the Twitter security team sexual harrassment is a serious and widespread issue – online and off.

The stories being shared are mind-blowingly heartbreaking and personal.

This online movement comes just a few days after #WomenBoycottTwitter, which was started by Rose McGowan after she was suspended from Twitter for tweeting about Harvey Weinstein. Many women came out in support of McGowan and decided to go silent on the site on Friday, October 13th.

However, many were critical of #WomenBoycottTwitter's selective feminism. One Vogue writer argued it was wrong "to raise the alarm only once well-off white women are the face of the suffering being protested" and contested the use of silence to bring about change. Rather than taking the easy route – staying quiet as a lazy means of solidarity – she argues for speaking truth to power.

Many Women of Color agreed the movement seemed unrepresentative and far too late.

But #MeToo has succeeded in many ways where #WomenBoycottTwitter failed. Rather than reacting to the struggle of one white survivor, #MeToo is looking at the systemic behavior that causes thousands of people to struggle everyday.

And instead of asking for silence, #MeToo is challenging people who are able to share their stories in solidarity and call Twitter out on their bullshit.

#MeToo isn't limiting. It is centered on how sexual assault and harrassment affect ALL people. It is actively asking people of every gender and race to contribute.

#MeToo is heartbreaking. #MeToo is personal. #MeToo lifts everyone's voices up. When you look at #MeToo, you don't see the struggles of someone off in Hollywood, whose suffering matters but is so different than yours. You see just how deep sexual assault goes in our society. You see that any man on the street can be Harvey Weinstein. And you see the everyday women who are going to keep screaming until something fucking changes.

And that's why it works.