Abstract

 
 
 In autumn 2017 in Sweden, the #MeToo movement and sexual assault became a focus of broad debate. Swedish media coverage of the movement was centred around the many petitions made by anonymous groups of women to illuminate the extent of the problem of sexual assault, as well as a few cases of accusations against well-known and powerful men in both the culture and media industries. In order to elicit common representations of men and their female accusers, this study applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) to news media coverage and Facebook comments of three of those accused men: TV personality Martin Timell, journalist Fredrik Virtanen and culture personality Jean-Claude Arnault. The results indicate that representations of women as both witnesses and heroines work to reinforce notions of female responsibility as a means to halt sexual assault, while representations of men as sexual predators build on demarcations of illegal and mere misogynistic or “bad” behaviour, which in turn reinforce notions of male victimhood. These representations point to legal discourse as hegemonic, as it seems to limit the discussion and only present individual solutions, such as women bearing witness, to the structural problem of sexual assault. Simultaneously, the results indicate that the #MeToo movement and other feminist discourse have also had an effect on news media representations of sexual assault by broadening the concept beyond the consent/rape dichotomy.
 
 
Highlights
In 2017, fuelled by the many allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo hashtag grew into a movement
In October of that year, the #MeToo movement gained momentum from a Twitter post by actress Alyssa Milano who called on all women who had been victims of sexual assault or harassment to reply to her tweet with the words ‘me too’
In Sweden, the #MeToo movement led to a wide range of public reactions, as well as ignited extensive news media coverage
Summary
In 2017, fuelled by the many allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo hashtag grew into a movement. Many women took to social media to tell their own stories and several leading politicians, including the Prime Minister, showed their support for the movement. From a vast array of different industries, women came together to talk anonymously about their experiences of sexual assault in the workplace, resulting in over 70 petitions (including various calls for action on social media and debate articles published in the news media) and the birth of new #MeToo-related hashtags including #tystnadtagning, #medvilkenrätt, #deadline, #imaktenskorridorer and #tystiklassen (by actors, lawyers, journalists, politicians and teachers, respectively). The Swedish media coverage of the #MeToo movement included the aforementioned petitions as well as stories of individual accusations against powerful men within both the media and cultural sectors
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
