MeToo

or Me Too

[ mee-too ]

noun

1. a social media hashtag of solidarity used by survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault in a public disclosure of a past or current personal experience in order to demonstrate the prevalence of abuse:

   I never reported my boss because I couldn’t afford to lose my job. #MeToo

2. a social movement drawing attention to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other abuses of authority, especially those resulting from gendered power imbalances in social institutions:

   MeToo is revealing the tragic common thread in the lives of Hollywood stars, short-order cooks, soldiers, prisoners, students, etc.—no corner of society is immune to this epidemic of abuse.

adjective

1. relating to or noting this social movement: a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;

   the MeToo era;

   a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;

   the Me Too backlash.

verb (used with object)

, Me·Too’d or Me·Tooed, Me·Too·ing.

1. to identify or accuse (one’s abuser) publicly in a claim of sexual harassment or sexual assault: Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

   How should celebrities who’ve been MeToo’d make amends and start over?

   Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

Word History and Origins

Origin of MeToo¹

Coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, African American civil rights activist (born 1973)

Example Sentences

In the interview, journalist Craig Melvin asked Clinton about the #MeToo movement and then read Lewinsky's column about the impact the #MeToo movement had on her perceptions of sexual harassment.

From Salon

The movement was spurred further by the #MeToo movement’s arrival in South Korea in 2018, the year that also saw mass public protests against the widespread circulation of nonconsensual pornography.

From Los Angeles Times

On the heels of the #MeToo movement, the guidelines were introduced as part of a larger effort to reduce sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry.

From Los Angeles Times

After #metoo, the actors’ union releases guidelines for the use of intimacy coordinators on film sets to help protect actors from abuse.

From Los Angeles Times

“Democrats were mostly running against an identity that was defined for them based on a couple of months of post-George Floyd Defund the Police #MeToo Instagram posts from four years ago,” Stewart emphasized.

From Salon