The Power of #MeToo

I have watched the 'me too' phenomenon unfold over the past two weeks with a mixture of admiration for the scores of people breaking the shackles of silence and unrelenting horror at the confirmation of how widespread abuse is. I also felt a sense of swelling optimism, knowing that identifying your tribe, as survivors of abuse have been doing through the outpouring of 'me too' statements, is the first step toward healing, growth, and transformation.

Photo by Aaron Blanco

One of the driving concepts behind my creation of Tide Risers was the power of being a member of a group designed to bring people together who share life experiences. The joy of finding commonality in another, swapping similar stories, and feeling like you've found 'your people' is palpable. The ability to share the common experience of being female has time and again revealed itself to be cathartic and powerful.

One of the many reasons it’s such a powerful tool is that it gives us the opportunity to say ‘me too.’ The thrill of these two simple words is so compelling that the teachers at my kids’ school have developed a hand gesture that allows students to quietly signal ‘me too’ without disturbing the class with a cacophony of voices saying it out loud. Over the last two weeks we have witnessed people around the world raising their voices in a chorus of 'me too' statements that knocked a hole in the edifice of seemingly untouchable privilege. Now that's power.

But how do we ensure that by choosing to spend time with people like ourselves, with whom we share certain characteristics, that we don’t end up in a cloistered bubble of self-reflection, through which other voices and experiences can’t penetrate?

It is possible. Tide Risers is dedicated to attempting to create a diverse array of women, representing different ages, life experiences, industries, races, and sexual orientations. This diversity of life experience makes our conversations deeper and richer, and builds relationships between women who may not have ever met. But the amazing thing is how much commonality we can find within our diversity, once we scratch the surface.

If you'd like to read more about the benefits of expanding your female tribe, read my blog post from earlier this year. Also, please leave a comment below -- this is a conversation I expect will continue for some time to come.