The 2018 Golden Globes made for a good place to debut the new “Time’s Up” movement, formed in the first few days of 2018 and quickly supported by some of the biggest stars in the entertainment industry. It began as a response to the overwhelming number of men and women who have finally come forward in the last few months to share their own sexual harassment stories.
The Weinstein Effect came about in early October 2017 when The New York Times released the first reports of a decade of sexual misconduct claims against famous film producer Harvey Weinstein. After this, a global movement began where people come forward, usually over social media, with accusations of powerful or famous men sexually harassing them. This well-known movement lead to the idea for the Time’s Up movement
The Golden Globes awards took place on January 7, 2018 and with the help of many celebrities’ social media posts a few days before, many people, including multiple celebrities all around the world, posted to their social media using the hashtag #WhyWeWearBlack as a way to express their support for those who have been sexually harassed. People all around the world posted pictures of them wearing black clothes in order to make a statement.
“I’ve had people close to me describe situations about sexual harassment that they have been involved in, and it’s really horrible,” Grady student Carrie Miller, who made a post on the Time’s Up movement, said. “It’s something I don’t take lightly and I wanted to wear black in order show as much support for people who have gone through that as I could.”
As these posts became more popular and people continued to use the hashtag, the world was blown away after seeing the outfits at the Golden Globes. Almost every single celebrity attending, from Kendall Jenner to Millie Bobby Brown, wore black suits and dresses in order to show their support for this meaningful movement.
Lily Muscarella, a junior at Grady, posted using the hashtag on her Instagram post as well.
“Movements like the Weinstein Effect and Time’s Up movement really brought to my attention how serious and prevalent the issue of sexual harassment is,” Muscarella says. “It’s a scary thing and I feel like if more people become aware, these messed-up situations will be more likely to be prevented.”
The bold movement got the attention of people around the world, bringing many to the realization that the issue at hand is serious and affects all different types of people. We must continue to support movements like this one, speak about the issue, and teach young people how wrong it is, in order to support the many people who have suffered from traumatic events of sexual misconduct.