Don’t get me wrong, I support and stand by each and every male and female that has spoken up about their sexual assault, harassment, and rape. I appreciate their courage and hope they are proud of how many people they are helping with their stories. I strongly believe that this topic needs to be talked about because it is quite honestly disgusting.
As someone who has experienced sexual assault, when I see articles about the #MeToo movement, I purposefully skip passed them. This is not because I don’t support the men and women because I do, it is simply because I don’t want to keep thinking about what happened to me. I went through a tragic experience that I don’t want to keep reliving. I don’t want to keep feeling his hands and hearing his compliments.
What happened is already on my mind every day. I know I can never forget my experience and that is not my intention. I don’t want to forget about what happened to me because it reminds me of how strong I am – I just don’t want to keep experiencing it. I want to stop remembering how painful it was and how long the hurt has lasted. When I am sitting alone in my room listening to music, I don’t want to think about what happened, because I’m tired of being sad.
Another reason I don’t want to read about the #MeToo movement is that every time I read about it, I cry. I know what it all means, and I find it so unbelievably painful and saddening that so many people are going through this. Many of my friends have gone through something similar and it breaks my heart. The worst pain comes from how people, who are younger then I was, are experiencing this.
I was 18 when it happened to me and there are children who are 15, 10, and even younger then 5 having pieces of them taken away. It breaks my heart that they will never get those parts back and they will never be able to forget about it. They learned way too young how cruel the world can be and it devastates me. I don’t want anyone else to experience the pain I had and still have today.
Although it’s hard for me to read about, the #MeToo movement is very powerful and has the ability to change the world. It is bringing light to a huge issue that was never openly talked about before. I will forever stand by this movement and I will always support someone who talks about their experience. I will have their back whether I know them or not.
No one should have to go through this alone and luckily, I never did. I had the support of my family and friends, and that means more then they will ever know. This movement proves that we are not going through this tragic time alone. I will always support the movement, I just won’t focus on it.