Tarana Burke, a youth worker and advocate in New York City, first used the phrase "Me Too" in 2006 on Myspace3. Burke aimed to create a space for young women of color who had survived sexual violence, letting them know they weren't alone1. The phrase was born from Burke's own experience as a survivor and her work with Girls for Gender Equity in Brooklyn1.

For over a decade, "Me Too" existed as a grassroots effort with limited reach. Then on October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an investigation accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual harassment3. Actresses Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan were among the first to speak publicly about Weinstein's behavior1.

On October 15, 2017, Alyssa Milano posted a tweet reading: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet"9. Milano later said a friend suggested the idea, and she was initially unaware of Burke's earlier work with the phrase1. That single tweet ignited a global firestorm.

The #MeToo movement drove sweeping changes across industries and legal systems. Companies enacted new anti-harassment policies, and social pressure created a cultural shift that stigmatized sexually inappropriate workplace behavior1. Burke advocated for processing all untested rape kits, updating school policies, improving teacher vetting, and mandating background checks for professionals who work with children3.

A #MeToo bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress to remove the "cooling off" period required before federal government staffers could file complaints against Congress members3. The movement prompted the formation of Time's Up, which raised over $13 million and assembled a network of nearly 800 attorneys15.

Mainstream media coverage was enormous. Time named Burke Person of the Year1. Research institutions studied the movement's dynamics: the SF State study documented the demographics and patterns of disclosure6, while Facebook's internal data showed almost half of American users were friends with someone who posted about being sexually assaulted or harassed3.

The movement's reach extended well beyond English-speaking countries. In dozens of languages, local equivalents emerged3. The Chinese "rice bunny" workaround demonstrated how meme culture could circumvent state censorship, using the translinguistic homophone "mi tu" to coordinate a social movement in a country hostile to organized activism2.

Burke's original "Me Too" was a quiet act of community building. Working with young women in underprivileged communities, she wanted survivors to know their experience was shared3. For years, the phrase circulated in small advocacy circles. Burke spoke at events, earned the Ridenhour Prize for Courage, and was later named Time's Person of the Year for 20171. But the phrase didn't reach mass awareness until the Weinstein story broke everything open.

The Weinstein exposé, published by the New York Times in early October 2017, detailed allegations spanning decades3. Within days, more women came forward. Rose McGowan, who alleged Weinstein had raped her, became an outspoken critic of Hollywood's culture of silence9. McGowan's temporary suspension from Twitter for violating its rules sparked the #WomenWhoRoar campaign, which set the stage for Milano's viral tweet9.

Milano's October 15 tweet drew over 25,000 direct responses in a matter of hours7. Men also participated, with some posting #MeToo to share their own experiences of assault7. The comedian Lane Moore told Bustle that the hashtag was simultaneously comforting and devastating: "That solace quickly turns into an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness and sadness and fear and horror because when will it stop?"7.

The movement quickly produced spin-off hashtags. Men created #HowIWillChange, pledging to hold themselves accountable, though critics called it performative14. Writer Benjamin Law encouraged men to donate to shelters, call out misogyny, and report assaults under the hashtag14. Others posted under #IveDoneThat, admitting to past harassment. Activists pushed back, questioning whether men were apologizing for their own catharsis rather than for their victims14.

By January 2018, the movement's institutional response took shape. Over 300 prominent women in entertainment launched Time's Up, an initiative backed by $13 million in donations to fund legal defense for harassment survivors across industries8. Major donors included Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg13. The Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, housed at the National Women's Law Center, received requests from over 3,700 people across all 50 states in its first year and allocated more than $5 million to 75 cases15.

The movement's fallout was swift for many accused men. Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences9. Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault, though a Pennsylvania court later threw out the conviction in 20211. Casey Affleck stepped away from presenting the Best Actress Oscar, later telling the AP he had moved "from a place of being defensive to one of a more mature point of view" about creating unprofessional work environments12. Charlie Rose was pitched a redemption interview series where he'd talk to other men toppled by #MeToo. Editor Tina Brown, who was approached to produce it, refused and remarked: "These guys are already planning their comebacks!"11.

The artistic response was striking. Poet Isobel O'Hare began creating erasure poems from the public apology statements of accused men, blacking out most of the text to reveal hidden meanings10. Her erasure of Louis C.K.'s statement went viral. "I felt like I was revealing a hidden truth in their words," O'Hare told Mashable, "as well as, in some small way, reversing the erasure they had enacted against their victims"10.

The movement also generated backlash and complex debate. The Depp v. Heard trial in 2022 became a flashpoint. TikTok users turned Amber Heard's testimony into comedic content, and corporations like Milani and Duolingo weighed in through social media5. Dr. Nancy Butler of Queen's University noted that "even though Heard's trial took place in a bubble of economic, racial, and social privilege, her story was not listened to"5. The trial demonstrated how internet culture could weaponize meme formats against the very survivors #MeToo aimed to protect5.

At the grassroots level, the intersection of memes and sexual violence awareness proved complicated. When a high school football star in Boulder, Colorado was arrested on multiple sexual assault charges in 2019, local Instagram meme accounts turned the story into joke content4. The school newspaper argued that while the memes got students talking, reducing sexual violence to punchlines risked trivializing survivors' experiences4.