C. Wright Mills's Theory Of The Metoo Movement

C. Wright Mills’s sociological research led him to realize that a person’s life is heavily influenced by societal norms and opinions. Therefore, no individual experience is ever completely free from society’s influence. The #MeToo movement, which was started in 2006 to raise awareness for sexual assault, got a wave of resurgence in October of 2017 when Hollywood actresses began to tell their stories of sexual abuse. The brave and honest women who spoke up against powerful Hollywood men encouraged women everywhere to no longer be silent. The #MeToo movement is a perfect example of how private experiences are heavily shaped by social norms and behaviors. The #MeToo movement raises awareness for the growing number of sexual assault cases and
In the case of the #MeToo, women began to share their stories in order to raise awareness and promote acceptance for talking about sexual abuse. The connecting thread between each victim’s experience was that there was an imbalance and misuse of power. Mills’s theory is heavily supported by the #MeToo movement. The history of sexual assault in the United States has stemmed out of the power that men feel they have over women, which has prevailed since the beginning of time. Women have always been thought of as just mothers or homemakers and nothing more. Over time, women have tried to change this stereotype by being part of the workforce and gaining the right to vote through the 19th amendment. Yet, this disparity between the equality of women and men are obvious in modern society though wage gaps and the daily pressures that society puts on women. Society is overly critical and inconsistent with their views about the way women should look, act, and behave. Women are often times made to be sexual objects, but at the same time expected to be conservative mothers. These unclear and absurd expectations of women lead to anomie in our
Diet, exercise, fashion, and beauty have become the center of people’s lives in order to conform to societal expectations. I have been told many times that what I am wearing is too provocative or that I need to exercise more to be skinner or that I should wear makeup to be beautiful. Unfortunately, I have been told this by strangers, teachers, friends, and family because it is the societal to norm to educate women on how to look a certain way. Max Weber’s ideas about the role of the individual in society can explain why sexual assault has lasting effects on many aspects of a person’s life. Weber thought that the individual tries to conform to the ideas of society in order to fit in. This explains why women feel the need to be and look a certain way. At some point, it takes over a person’s life by having to always worry about how one is acting or dressing or looking like. Yet, men are rarely taught to not sexualize women or comment on their clothing. This demonstrations Blumer and Goffman’s theories of symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is the idea that our concept of who we are shaped through our interactions with others. It is certain that through my and many other’s interactions with society, a very convoluted and confused view of self is developed. Sexual assault and abuse effects a person’s entire life and his or her view of self, which can leave unfixable