A Comparative Analysis: #MeToo, Nari Movements, and the Price of Neoliberal Feminism.

• Date: 01 September 2021
• Author: Rastrelli, Hailey
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Author: Rastrelli, Hailey

It was 1997, when young activist Tarana Burke sat across the table from a 13-year-old girl; speechless. The young girl courageously shared her experience as a survivor of sexual violence with Burke--who could not help but feel outraged at the fact that this could happen to someone else...too. In that moment, Burke had no idea that what she would do next would inspire a decades-long movement.

The saying "Me Too" was not actually used until 2006 to raise awareness of rampant sexual misconduct in society. (1) Burke's "Me Too" was one centered on community healing and justice. But still, it had not gotten the limelight yet. Then in 2017, with a single tweet, the #MeToo movement surged across the internet. White actress Alyssa Milano demanded "time is up" for serial sexual abuser, Harvey Weinstein. Sexual harassment, assault, and abuse survivors alike, across the world, rallied on Twitter and Instagram, roaring #MeToo. Even today, #MeToo remains trending on social media.

Since then, the Movement has brought down 202 serial abusers (including Harvey Weinstein), brought on non-disclosure agreement bans (NDAs), protections for workers, and more. Besides its effect on the West, #MeToo has also busted down the "behind closed doors" nature of assault transnationally. Rightfully so, the women associated with the rise of #MeToo deserve praise for their ability to use their privilege to expose culturally-ingrained male entitlement. Equally, white neoliberal feminists deserve criticism for further imposing structures of violence and discrimination against people of marginalized identities. To be clear, "Me Too" started back in 1997, with a young black activist, Tarana Burke; white, neoliberal feminists like Alyssa Milano continually take credit for the movement's transnational boom.

Across the world, #MeToo was on everyone's Instagram feed. However, a movement, such as Bangladesh's Nari: Mahila Bus Service Limited was not taking up transnational screen time. Yet Bangladeshi feminists were breaking down barriers of their own. Just because it was not trending, does not speak to failure. The Nari movement was similar in cause and platform to #MeToo. The difference lies in the mobilization of resources and framing of their cause, in addition to culture and mentality. These distinct differences will be highlighted. Bangladeshi feminists did not fall to western Neoliberalism, like American feminists did. In short, Bangladeshi feminists were not concerned with the visibility of their movement in the same way the West was--but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Thus, visibility is not particularly a metric for success.

The actions of white, neoliberal feminists can be harmful. In the context of this text, a neoliberal feminist is primarily a variation of Western feminism, where such "feminists,'" by nature, direct their energy and resources towards the upper-middle classes, (2) thus lending itself to the erasure of intersectionality by placing a price on every aspect of inclusion. Moreover, neoliberal feminism is exclusively informed by the market calculus and motivated by capital gains as a means of empowerment. Capital, in this case, not only refers to monetary value but cultural capital as well. As such, neoliberal feminism (particularly amongst white women) is uninterested in traditional forms of achieving social justice or the intersectionality of mass mobilization. Instead, to white, neoliberal feminists, inclusion comes at a price. Such feminists detect the price of market freedom in areas of oppression, like a flare. Therefore, incentivizing them to flock towards the movement as an untapped market for profit. Thus, confusing such gestures as actual, tangible, direct action.

So, indeed, the #MeToo movement is in trouble. Such neoliberal and colonial prospective could render the movement ultimately useless, given its problematic nature. However, it is not unable to be remedied. In fact, "Me Too" activists and feminist scholars have echoed that the movement is at a pivotal moment for change. (3) Through this paper, I argue that it is white, neoliberal feminists' mobilization of inaccessible resources that forces people of marginalized identities to move towards other social movements. Thus, these actions communicate white, neoliberal feminists' commodification of oppressed narratives as a means to garner monetary and cultural capital by reinforcing privilege through capitalist structures of systematic...