Harvey Weinstein and the French MeToo Movement

By Peyton Dashiell, Staff Writer

Following weeks of heavy and emotional testimony from over 40 defendants, American film mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault in the case that spearheaded the 2017 MeToo movement. Weinstein’s accusers, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Selma Hayek and Rose McGowan, have alleged that Weinstein used his power and connections in the entertainment industry over several decades to rape and coerce women into sex. If his victims chose to pursue justice, they were met with threats of an industry blacklist and a ruined career.

While the phrase “MeToo” was coined in 2007 by activist Tarana Burke, the current MeToo movement began in 2017, when actress Alyssa Milano asked women who had been sexually assaulted to spread the phrase on social media to illustrate the gravity and frequency of the issue.

The movement led to millions of social media users sharing their stories of rape and sexual assault, several high profile terminations of alleged abusers in business, entertainment and politics, and a reignited cultural and legal conversation surrounding sexual assault, consent and coercion. Legally, the movement led to a ban on non-disclosure agreements in several states — Weinstein’s assistant could not speak out for decades due to a hush contract. In Congress, Representative Jackie Speier introduced the Member and Employee Training and Oversight on Congress Act (METOO Act) to change the way the federal government handles sexual harassment and assault reports.

MeToo quickly spread globally through social media, and in France, Twitter users began to use the hashtags MoiAussi, NousToutes, and Balancetonporc. The former two are an equivalent to the English MeToo, and the latter a controversial call for women to publicly name their abusers.

As more French social media users engaged in the movement and shared their stories, controversy followed — with even some women in the French entertainment industry condemning the movement. In the newspaper Le Monde, 100 women led by actress Catherine Deneuve signed an open letter denouncing MeToo, characterizing it as a puritan American export with no relevance to the

French tradition. While French social media users continued to share their stories, the movement failed to gain significant momentum for several years.

However, MeToo was propelled in France in 2019 after public accusations were made by actors Adele Hanael and Valentine

MeToo in France compared to the United States? And has the movement been effective in either country? Many attribute the cold reception of MeToo in France to a culture that often separates personal transgressions from professional life. An anonymous 2A theorized that this variance comes from differing attitudes in France towards gender roles – “in France, it’s often expected for a man to pursue a woman until the woman directly objects, and it is considered less inappropriate to make advances even in contexts like the workplace.”

Monnier against director Roman Polanski and several others. For the first time since the advent of the French movement, significant professional consequences were brought against an industry professional accused of rape. Polanski’s new film, “An Officer and A Spy,” halted promotion, and the ARP director’s guild began the process of suspending Polanski. This year, the Cesar Awards, scheduled for February 24 in Paris, will ban any actors or film industry workers who have committed sexual violence out of respect for the victims.

But what explains the relatively delayed spread of

While the relative outrage in the United States over MeToo may lead one to think that the movement experienced wide success, many abusers still hold high status. Men like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and R Kelly have been almost universally denounced for their crimes. Yet, confessed rapists like, most-followed Instagram user globally Cristiano Ronaldo have enjoyed new heights of fame and shirked responsibility for sexual assault offenses that they explicitly admit to. Weinstein’s conviction and sentencing may be a watershed moment in a new era of accountability, but there is still much work to be done to remove abusers from positions of power and success.