Tolentino uses rhetoric to urge people to examine the #MeToo movement from a different perspective, highlighting that this movement and the women fueling it– those speaking out and speaking up– has led to men desperately acting to hold on to power and maintain hierarchies. This is an atypical conversation path to take when discussing #MeToo, yet the points Tolentino makes are incredibly valid and ring true, especially with the evidence she supplies.
I interpret her purpose is to illuminate unintended consequences of social movements but also the defamation of character directed towards women who choose to speak out. Tolentino has noticed exigency that has emerged from a movement with upward momentum, in that when women look to reclaim what is theirs, they are perceived as a threat and targeted, in order to neutralize said threat. Tolentino’s statement is a bold one yet to me it perfectly encapsulates and explains the response to fearless women and the societal imbalance that persists.
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