#TIMESUP
I watched Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globe speech once yesterday, then three times today. I cried, got goosebumps, and cried a little more. I cry easily, so that's no real feat, but the goosebumps usually only come when Justin Trudeau starts talking gender equality.
Last year, most of us were overwhelmed by the honesty of the brave, powerful women who spoke out the words, “me too.” Some of us silently stood in solidarity alongside of them and simply heard, some of us wept for what we’d learnt about the women we loved and what they had endured, some of us echoed “me too” deep within our souls, and some of us were the very women to speak. The very women who walked into the light, bearing all of the pain of a past inflicted upon them by gender injustice, sexual harassment, and violence. The women who called out to one another, and birthed a collective voice from those two words.
Well, if #metoo was the way we found our voices, #timesup is our war cry.
Those who have harassed, exploited, inflicted emotional, physical, and sexual violence upon women; their time is up. That same courageous collective voice who told their stories and shook off stigma and shame for the sake of others, is saying enough is enough.
There is hope. There is gumption enough to propel us so far forward, and it is found in the stories that we’ve heard over the last weeks and months. I work for an organisation called Hagar International that works alongside women and children who have been trafficked, abused, and enslaved, and I can assure you, the resilience and courage of the people I have met and the things they have told me can and will change the world. My friend Yeang is one of those people. Yeang is bold about pursuing her dreams, she’s fun and she’s bright, and she’s also a survivor. When Yeang told me her story, and asked me to share it in hope that it might change something for someone, I asked her what she’d say to other survivors, she told me, “this is not the end of your story, there is more for your life.” There is more for her life, and there is more for our world.
Oprah herself believes the same things as my girl Yeang, in proclaiming that there is a new day on the horizon, and we get to be a part of it, if we choose. So choose. Join me in standing with Yeang, or in standing with your colleague whose been fending off awkward unwanted sexual advances from her superior, or with your sister who drank too much at an orientation week party and wound up with someone she didn’t want in her room.
If you’re a man, there’s a chance you might be feeling a little defensive. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to feel that way. Nobody’s bringing pitchforks to this party. We love you, and we really want you on our team. This movement says that you are not wired to harass or assault. So stand with the women in your life. Look out for them. Let other men know that the days of locker room chat are done. Accept that cat-calling never was and never will be cute or a compliment.
The time is well and truly up. Let’s remove the word slut from our vocabulary. Let’s never blame anything on what someone wore again. Let’s be kind to one another. Let’s speak up when we see gender injustice in our workplaces, in our homes, in our communities, and our greater world. Let’s support organisations that are actively fighting gender injustice. Let’s acknowledge our privilege and the position of ignorance it sometimes puts us in, and let’s choose to know. Let’s choose to see beyond what we never deserved. Let’s tell perpetrators of discrimination, harassment, and assault, their #timesup.
