On August 31st, the funeral of Aretha Franklin was held and many came together for the eight-hour service to celebrate the life of the "Queen of Soul". During this service, Ariana Grande performed Franklin's hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman in memory of the lost singer. After Grande's performance ended, Pastor Charles H. Ellis III came to hug her. As Ellis hugged Grande, his hand began to reach farther, grabbing her right breast on live, national television. Stunned, Ariana gently came out of the hug and made awkward laughs as to not make a scene at the funeral. Ellis later apologized saying, "I don't know; I guess I put my arm around her. Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar, but again, I apologize." After reading this apology, I find it hard to believe that he was sorry at all for sexually assaulting a woman in public. He really only seems to be sorry that others noticed him doing this disgusting act.
After the broadcast aired, women have been sharing their own stories about assaults at funerals. This event is just another example of "a place where powerful men feel comfortable violating women regardless of who they are, where they are or who is watching." Around 70% of women who are sexually assaulted do not report the event because they are scared that they won't be believed. To quote the article, "Of course, the current political climate doesn't help matters. We have a president who has mocked the #MeToo movement, a secretary of education who has proposed new college campus sexual assault misconduct rules that would provide additional protections to those accused of misconduct, and more than $17 million of taxpayer-funded money that has been used to settle complaints of sexual harassment in Congress. I just think it is sad that our country is still in the dark about this topic.
Click here to read more
Questions:
1. How do you feel about the #MeToo movement and how it is affecting our society?
2. Do you think people should be more aware of this movement?
Replies
Great job Morgan!
I think people should be more aware of this movement because I feel like this topic happens a lot to people, and some people may think it's not a big deal, but it actually really is. I think it is a big deal, because first, I think this is a type of assault/harassment that can be very harmful to a person. Another reason why is that, that person's body is theirs, they are in charge of their body. They get to decide who they wanna be around. I don't think it is ok for people to harass someone. I also think it's very sad that 70% of women that are sexually assaulted end up not reporting the event because they are scared that they won't be believed.
This is a sad topic to begin with. I think that this type of assault/harassment, like you said, is very damaging to a persons mind. It affects how they view their body and them selves. Some victims think that they brought it upon themselves, and it doesn’t help that people, like our president, say that if they dress like that, they deserve it.
I think that the public is already aware of the #MeToo movement. The movement has a message and I don't think that people who do disgusting things like what happened to Ariana Grande are going to change just because of it. I can understand why women don't speak up, but I think that this issue needs to be addressed and taken seriously. Women deserve more respect.
I agree with you that women should speak up and anyone who is sexually assaulted/harassed. Personally, if something like that were to happen to me, I don’t think that I would be able to keep it to myself. I think that there needs to be a better penalty or the issue needs to be taken more seriously in the eyes of the law so that women can be taken more seriously.
I think it's a good thing because people have to know that things like that still happen. But I also think nobody who does things like that will change because of #MeToo. People are enough aware but they should be more afraid to do it.
i dont think people holding signs and crying in the streets is making a diffrence if they wanted to make a diffrence they should be trying to do more about this cause. I think people should know MORE about the cause and what they are doing to make a diffrence.
I’m curious as to what you think people should do to try and make the change if holding signs and standing in streets isn’t making the difference. The holding signs part is apart of peaceful protesting because violence never works. I agree with you in that people should know more about this topic and should be educated what to do if they or a loved one is in a similar situation and needs help.
This action made by a representative of the lord is absolutely terrible. It is despicable that someone would do a thing like this at a celebration of a great man, one that served our country for years. From the information you presented us with toward the #MeToo movement, it sounds like a good act that strives to help people. I can not totally speak over this movement,as I don’t know much about it, but I feel that many people can spread the word. They can do this by making commercials, posters, holding events, etc. Again I feel like this incident was terrible and should not happen again.
Just to clarify, this event occurred at Aretha Franklin’s funeral who is a woman was a singer. I agree with you though, in the fact that I think the #MeToo movement is important and should be talked about more to help women (and men) of sexual assault or harassment to come forward and talk about what has happened to them.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next