The Power of Civic Engagement: Analyzing the Time's Up Movement

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The Power of Civic Engagement
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Contents
Time’s Up: A movement to protect and empower women..............................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................7
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Time’s Up: A movement to protect and empower women
Every individual in today’s era is connected globally and internationally through the means of
technology. However, they are often disconnected from the major policy decisions that affect
their lives in reality. The government does not always have enough resources to counter all the
matter and issues including political, economic or social gaps. This is why it is important for
private individuals and citizens to participate in activities pertaining to the betterment of society.
Civic Engagement is one way in which the citizens can contribute to the betterment of their
society at both national and international levels.
A wide variety of activities are covered by civic engagement in which the citizens participate to
contribute to the political process for addressing the needs of community and improvement of an
individual’s life as a whole. Amongst all those wide varieties of activities, one movement which
gained a large amount of attention throughout the Globe is Time’s Up. This movement seeks to
end sexual harassment. This is a groundbreaking movement for women's empowerment and anti-
sexual assault. From the very beginning of this movement, public conversation’s relating to
women issues were upended throughout the globe (Lee, 433). In addition, this movement also
elevated the consciousness of the challenges and obstacles that women face in their personal and
professional lives.
This movement gained its inspiration from a #MeToo movement. This was a movement against
sexual assault and sexual harassment. In the year 2006, an American community organizer and
social activist Tarana Burke began this phrase ‘Me Too’ and in 2017, it was popularised by
Alyssa Milano, an American actress on a social media platform. This phrase with a hashtag was
used to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, particularly at
the workplace. With the initiative taken by the American actress, other victims of sexual assault
and harassment were encouraged to participate and allow the people to get a glimpse of the
problem’s magnitude (Papa). Various high-profile celebrities and other people followed the
initiative and soon it became a movement worldwide.
‘Henry David Thoreau’ in his book ‘Civil Disobedience’ espoused the need of prioritizing the
conscience of an individual over the dictates of law. His saying was both valued and criticized.
He himself criticized the institution, government, and policies by means of his book. In his
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opinion, the power of the government is derived from the majority and not because they prove
themselves useful or hold most legitimate viewpoints. He contends that the individuals must be
at first obligated to do what they believe is right and not because it is dictated by the law. The
case of sexual assault and sexual harassment is no different. It is the right of women to speak up
about their pain and sufferings but they do not get the support from other people. Instead, they
are blamed for the consequences.
It is of no doubt that the law is made for the purpose of ensuring that the rights of an individual
are not violated or his interests are not misused. However, the law may not be serving the
purpose altogether. This is why there arises the need for social movements. They bring the
attention of people to the issues which are usually known but ignored or left unnoticed. They
have been around from time immemorial but people fail to recognize their earnestness
(Bowman). Even with the presence of a well-defined and organized legal system, it is important
for people to consider social movements to be an option to stand up for certain causes. The social
movement Time’s up is not about alarming the government to make laws against sexual
harassment but to amend them and ensure that they are enforced properly. It is about ensuring
that the victims are not the one to be blamed.
There are two sides to every story. With the story of starting a social movement for the
protection of women from sexual harassment and assault, there are people both in support and
against the movement. The movement is recognized and appreciated by people not just in
America but throughout the globe. On the other hand, it is also being criticized. This initiation
includes efforts to create and amend laws to penalize the companies that are participants to
tolerating harassment and to discourage the culture of using a non-disclosure agreement as it
leads to a silenced victim. People now believe that finally, they are hearing each other, the
undisclosed pain and stories and locking arms in solidarity with each other (Megan). The most
prevailing ethics of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement is its opt-in nature. It allows a woman
to share her story along with all the accompanying costs. This act is acknowledged as an act of
both bravery and privilege.
When this movement was being recognized, appreciated and crossing the geographical
boundaries, there were people standing against the movement. The women from Hollywood took
the platform of Golden Globes as an opportunity to signal women to end silence and inaction on
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sexual abuse and harassment. All the women showed up in Black to stand for the cause and send
the message loud and clear. However, this act also received some critique. People were of
opinion that these Hollywood women must not be the one standing for the cause as they are not
actually connected to the women suffering in actual communities. Further, they also stated that
this is not a real action because it involves party and fancy clothes. The criticism of people also
extended to the movement. It was stated that the movement focuses only on the female victims
and ignores male victims completely (Langone). Time’s up has hijacked the issue of sexual
harassment and has turned it into an issue of gender.
Considering the different opinions shared by the people around the globe in relation to the
movement and the people standing for the cause, it is clear that critique is easy. However,
actually running or taking a stand for such cause is a hard experiment. Whenever anyone stands
for a cause, there is always a circumstance where deciding ‘it only takes a few vs it takes
millions’ is difficult. The opinion of Thoreau in his book was about this fight of few against
millions. The author wanted to draw the attention of people to causes which are not led by the
millions but maybe by the few but are the right causes to support.
It takes everything to build a movement of social change among the millions but it is always
worth a try. Ever member, leader, ally, platform or every tactic are directed towards specific
objectives at a certain point in time. It is not very often to have the big ideas which can turn
around into a whole movement. However, when someone has such an idea, it is important to
move and reach out to do something about it. The author Henry stated that it is not an obligation
on every individual to devote his life to eliminating evils but it is his obligation to at least not
participate in one (Sen). When the rules are unjust, it is important to take actions against those
rules and not follow them blindly. The social movements are about taking action against unjust
rules and not follow them blindly.
Considering the opinion of the author, it is important to mention that rules of sexual harassment
and assault against women are unjust as these rules are not providing the women with protection
or justice. This brings out the reason to stand for the cause and not just follow the rules blindly.
In the contemporary circumstance, the author Henry would advise to fight against the cause and
take steps to provide security to women from acts abusing her physically and emotionally
(Thoreau). It is important to protect women from sexual harassment and assault and it is the
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cause for which the millions must stand. The idea of taking advantage of women in any situation
is awful and it must be frowned upon.
Considering all the discussed facts and opinion of the author, it is evident that the author wants
the people to take steps in support of their beliefs and only follow the rules. No individual must
be allowed to sit, see and do nothing. There are various other causes and beliefs to fight for and
the initiatives must be taken to draw people’s attention to such matters. With civic engagement,
everyone has an opportunity to transform the community they live in. It is important to
participate actively in matters concerning the communities, identify them and address those
social challenges (Rodino-Colocino, 98). It is important to understand that a person can either
become a participant in the governance of his community or can become a spectator. The
decision, however, requires a wise thought.
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References
 Bowman, Sabienna. The Time's Up Movement Solidarity Came From A Passion For
Change, According To Tracee Ellis Ross. ‘Bustle’ 8 Jan 2018.
https://www.bustle.com/p/the-times-up-movement-solidarity-came-from-a-passion-for-
change-according-to-tracee-ellis-ross-7814523 3 Feb 2019.
 Langone, Alix. #MeToo and Time's Up Founders Explain the Difference Between the 2
Movements — And How They're Alike. ‘Time’ 22 March 2018.
http://time.com/5189945/whats-the-difference-between-the-metoo-and-times-up-
movements/ 3 Feb 2019.
 Lee, Bun-Hee. "# Me Too Movement; It Is Time That We All Act and Participate in
Transformation." Psychiatry Investigation 15.5 (2018): 433-433.
 Megan, Garber. Is This the Next Step for the #MeToo Movement? ‘The Atlantic’ 2 Jan
2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/01/beyond-metoo-can-
times-up-effect-real-change/549482/ 3 Feb 2019.
 Papa, Rocco. What The Time’s Up Movement Says About The Future Of Feminism.
‘HuffPost’ 1 Dec 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-the-times-up-
movement-says-about-the-future-of_us_5a58eb13e4b01ccdd48b5bb3. 3 Feb 2019.
 Rodino-Colocino, Michelle. "Me too,# MeToo: countering cruelty with
empathy." Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 15.1 (2018): 96-100.
 Sen, Rinku. The Lefty Critique of #TimesUp Is Tired and Self-Defeating. ‘The nation’ 9
January 2018. https://www.thenation.com/article/the-lefty-critique-of-timesup-is-tired-
and-self-defeating/ 3 Feb 2019.
 Thoreau, Henry David. Civil disobedience. Broadview Press, 2016.
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