Why the Me Too Movement Needs to go Further

by Khary Bekka

The Me Too movement has ignited the desire of millions of women to step out from the shadows of a male­-dominated society. Yet, can anyone clearly define what the movement is about and in what direction it is heading? The media has been busy sensationalizing incidents of sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace, which has helped to drive the narrative. While you have many who believe and prefer that the movement be about female empowerment and an effort to end discrimination against women in society as a whole, I myself believe that within the scope of the Me Too movement we are approaching a revolutionary event and now stand at a crucial crossroad in human history.

At this crossroad, one road leads us toward what may be a feel-good moment in American history, when women will see their social status elevated a degree—when they will be more respected and protected in the workplace with policies and laws being enforced. Simultaneously we will see a mainstream effort to highlight diversity on television and in films that honor women's past, present, and future accomplishments. Within the next decade we might even see a woman as POTUS, and some may find themselves inspired to do a victory lap. However, there is a good chance that we will eventually end up right back at the same fork in the road. Surely succeeding the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920 women believed that the battle was won; when in fact the sexist human paradigm was still quite prevalent and was in effect the biggest bully on the block. (We can reference the Thirteenth Amendment as another example of when the legal battle was won without truly exploring the root of inequality.) The other road leads us toward a quantum jump in human evolution as we consider and explore the ramifications of a just gender equality moment at this juncture in time.

In the realm of the most basic and fundamental relations between humans, be it between man and woman, we have been taught and habitually practice the principle of placing "right on the side of might." This oppressive ideology has manifested itself in all of our human relations, extending from neighbors to nations. To be more specific: the subjugation of women has been at the root of all human oppression and most acts of aggression on the micro and macro levels. When taking this into account, there are social ramifications for the Me Too movement, with the fate of human evolution being predicated on how far women are ready to question old doctrines, demand change, and embrace the potential of a revolutionary paradigm shift.

Every step toward human evolution has been invariably accompanied by a step toward raising the social position of women—to the point where historians and philosophers use women’s elevation or debasement as a measure of a civilization, of a people, or of an age. But the moral education of mankind has hitherto emanated chiefly from the law of force. As a result, society, from its highest place to its lowest, is one long ladder on which every individual, class, race, and nation is either above or below its nearest neighbor. How can we expect humanity to embrace social justice movements calling for equal rights of women, people of color, and LGBT groups while attempting to promote world peace when within our most fundamental relations between man and woman we are governed by the principle of "right being on the side of might?"

Let's for a second imagine a world where might in the form of structural power and physical strength had no relevancy in status and relations. The fourteen year old child who stands no taller than five feet tall and weighs ninety pounds is beloved and respected by his peers just as much as a child of the same age who is five feet eleven, two hundred pounds and who plays on the school football team. Race and class would not determine your status in society. The physical and social bully would be ostracized if such a mentality were to come into existence. The small nation of 60,000 aboriginal people with no nuclear weapons or standing army would have political and economic sovereignty and, more importantly, have just as much influence in global affairs as a nation of 600,000,000 people. Armies and weapons of mass destruction would become obsolete. Slavery would never have existed and war would be no more. When women retake their rightful place as equal counterparts to men, balance and harmony are restored to the world. As long as we see this vision as unnatural, continue to favor the idea that right is on the side of might and continue to believe in this distorted paradigm, there is and there will be no equality.

To all the women moved to tell your stories, let the healing begin. The fate of human evolution is now in your hands. I appeal to you to finish what you have started and not give up until the ultimate victory. We stand at the threshold of an historical quantum jump into "second-tier" thinking that will force us to rethink much of what we have been taught to believe in our homes, schools, churches, communities, and cultures. Much of what we know will take on a different interpretation as we break with tradition, with old ways of thinking and with old paradigms.

Or the opposite could happen. What would happen if the media is allowed to drive the narrative of the Me Too movement? Will it the movement be reduced to ending harassment and abuse in the workplace and highlights of the valuable role of women past, present, and future in our society? We seem to have been down that road before. Will no one take a swing of the axe at the root of the issue? As long as the right of the strong to wield power over the weak rules in the very heart of society any attempt to champion equal rights of the voiceless, the weak, the powerless, and bring forth world peace between human bodies on Earth will be an uphill struggle.

The narrative of the Me Too movement should be driven by a call for a revolutionary paradigm shift that would unleash tremendous human energy and ingenuity that would create a standard of living; a standard of freedom and liberty, of influence and hope unequaled in the history of the world. Our institutions, books, education, and society must train human beings not for the old, but the new wave of consciousness in the process of human evolution. This is the road that must be traveled to bring true justice to the Me Too movement and establish a world culture of equality for all genders, races, classes and nations.