Wednesday, TIME magazine announced their 2017 Person of the Year. After much speculation and many theories including Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick, TIME announced that their Person of the Year was "The Silence Breakers;" in response to the #MeToo campaign and the many women who are coming forward over sexual misconduct allegations. Some of the many women featured include Rose McGowan, Megyn Kelly, Tarana Burke, and Terry Crews.
2017 was a whirlwind of important political movements including Black Lives Matter, transgender protections, and the dreamers. However, the women's movements and #MeToo campaign have by far been the most publicized movements of this year. Mostly because they affect roughly half of the population.
And while there have been many brave women in the past to stand up against sexual misconduct and harassment, 2017 has been the year that women have finally had their voices heard. And more than that, there are finally consequences for these individuals who feel that they are entitled to another person's body.
And while there are many men who have been guilty of sexual harassment have been featured within the story, including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Louis CK, the one name that stands out is President Donald Trump. Trump name, in regards to his infamous Access Hollywood video, was featured seven times in this article.
With Northwestern Professor, Aldon Morris saying "All social movements have highly visible precipitating factors. In this case, you had Harvey Weinstein, and before that you had Trump." And Megyn Kelly adding "I think that President Trump's election in many ways was a setback for women. But the overall message to us was that we don't really matter."
President Trump was pretty positive that he was going to be named Person of the Year. In fact, about a month ago, he tweeted this statement about the recognition with a "thanks but no thanks" tone. Be careful what you wish for.
And while the #MeToo movement has made great strides within the last few months, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order for women to truly be protected from sexual harassment. It will be amazing to see what comes next.