Time to Recognize Survivors

Just a few days ago, TIME Magazine named their “Person of the Year,” except… it’s not a person, it’s people.

“The Silence Breakers,” is what they’re called. TIME dedicated their annual issue that highlights someone/thing that has influenced the most this past year to....Taylor Swift??

The article features movie stars like Ashley Judd (regarded as the one who inspired everyone in Hollywood to come out with their stories, as you can see, proudly standing below the "I" in Time), that took part in the #MeToo movement, realizing their power in breaking the silence about the epidemic of sexual harassment. Except, it’s not an epidemic, but a culture deeply embedded in our societal ideology and norms.

#MeToo is a hashtag, started by Tarana Burke in 2007 (BTW, where the hell is she in this cover?), as means for folks to feel "empowered through empathy." Its use became viral after sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein spread. However, as much as I appreciate the #MeToo movement's goal to spark a national conversation on the ideological foundations of Rape Culture, I don’t know if we should be further celebrating famous people for their "bravery"

I acknowledge you. I am in solidarity with you.

But I also stand in solidarity with those who are not comfortable with sharing and with the folks who have shared too much and received so little. Not all of us have the privilege to come out with our stories and be idolized on a magazine cover. TIME doesn't leave us unacknowledged though. I must give them merit; you see that elbow in the bottom right corner of the article? Yep, that's us. Just an ordinary woman who isn't famous enough to be featured on the article. TIME editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal explained, "the image you see partially on the cover is of a woman we talked to, a hospital worker in the middle of the country, who doesn't feel like she can come forward without threatening her livelihood." How considerate, thank you, Edward.

Except, it isn't enough. I can't help but think about the hundreds of other people that have come out about their stories and have only served further persecution. What about Cecilia, a minibar attendant in a hotel in Chicago who walked in on a sexual predator, or Cyntoia Brown, a black woman forced to sex work, or Mary, a transgender woman sentenced to serve time in a male prison and subjected to over 200 rapes. Where are the representations for these people?

I've been thinking a lot about this tweet by Carrie Brownstein, "We can insist on change in Hollywood, and in all industries. But that isn't enough. We must examine and dismantle the system of domination that is Patriarchy, one reliant upon oppression and exploitation. And any call for transformation must include all struggles for liberation." YES, CARRIE!! It's just something to think about.

While I recognize TIME's efforts in bringing to light, analyzing and trying to dismantle a cultural issue, their methods of glorifying famous (white) actors for their bravery and heroism only works in dehumanizing the "others" who cannot come out or those who have and it has costed them their jobs, families and even lives. So much so, that we have become nothing but an elbow at the bottom right of a page.