Time’s Up, celebrities and the transformation of gender violence paradigms: The case of Oprah Winfrey’s Speech at the Golden Globes (2018)

Abstract

In this paper we assess to what extent Oprah Winfrey's speech during the Golden Globes 2018, situated in the new context of the #MeToo movement and the Time's Up initiative, destabilizes the modes of recognition of gender violence, offering an example of the operationalization of the concept of 'ethical witnessing' in communication media brought about by celebrities. In order to do so we consider the connections she establishes between the fight for rights and other fights for recognition, redistribution and participation; the degree of transgression of the reified models of identification of the subjectvictim and the focus on the capacity of agency; and the type of relationship that develops between the subject who gives testimony and the witness. The paper concludes that Oprah's intersectional approach to gender violence, her focus on agency and resistance (verging on heroism), her role as both witness of her own victimization and facilitator of others' testimonies, and her activism and inspiration for others to engage socially and politically, comes close to transgressing the boundaries of the current mode of recognition and representation of gender violence. Nevertheless, the widely accepted image of Oprah as an authority assumes a hierarchical relation that contravenes an ethical dimension of witnessing. In addition, in line with a liberal position, Oprah reimagines the 'good victim' as an empowered individual who overcomes vulnerability, and she envisions the eradication of gender inequality as something that comes from the top down.[es] Time's Up, celebridades y la transformación del paradigma de la violencia de género: el caso del discurso de Oprah Winfrey en los Globos de Oro (2018) Resumen. En este trabajo evaluamos hasta qué punto el discurso de Oprah Winfrey durante los Golden Globes 2018, ubicado en el nuevo contexto del movimiento #MeToo y la iniciativa Time's Up, desestabiliza los modos de reconocimiento de la violencia de género, ofreciendo un ejemplo de operacionalización del concepto de 'testimonio ético' aplicado a la acción de celebridades en los medios de comunicación. Para hacerlo, consideramos las conexiones que se establecen entre la lucha por los derechos de las mujeres y otras luchas por el reconocimiento, la redistribución y la participación; el 1 This article is part of the project La re-significación de la mujer-víctima en la cultura popular: Implicaciones para la innovación representacional en la construcción de la vulnerabilidad y la resistencia [The re-signification of woman as victim in popular culture: implications towards representational innovation in the construction of vulnerability and resistance] (FEM2015-65834-C2-2-P, MINECO-FEDER), funded by Spain's Ministery of Economy and Competitivity. We would like to express our gratitude to Drs. Zeynep Kiliç, Dr. Dayna DeFeo and Patrick Dulin for their invaluable feedback and support, and to Dr. María José Gámez Fuentes for her constant inspiration. We also appreciate the blind reviewers for their thoughtful comments.

A Qualitative Analysis of How Individuals Utilized the Twitter Hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo to Comment on the Perpetration of Interpersonal Violence

“…By sharing experiences and learning that many people agree with the unacceptability of a given behavior, people may be empowered to demand change. An example of this is the Time’s Up movement that seeks to end workplace sex-based discrimination, including harassment and assault (Maseda García & Gómez Nicolau, 2018). Furthermore, studies investigating the benefits of public sexual assault disclosure have highlighted its role in forging a resilient social advocate identity and reframing the victimization experience, both of which are deemed to be healing for victims (e.g., Gueta et al, 2020).…”

Breaking the logic of neoliberal victimhood: Vulnerability, interdependence and memory in Captain Marvel (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, 2019)

“…We will put it into dialogue with the work of Oliver (2001, 2004) and Kaplan (2005) on ethical witnessing to enquire into theoretical and methodological possibilities to approach the analysis and production of cultural products that attempt to break away from that polarization. To carry out this research, we have operationalized the concept of ethical witnessing into four dimensions of analysis so that we can detect what narrative strategies may constitute ethical witnessing (Gámez Fuentes et al, 2016; Gámez Fuentes and Maseda García, 2018; Maseda García and Gómez Nicolau, 2018). The four dimensions are (1) the relation between the subject victim and those who bear witness; (2) the very content of the testimony; (3) the approach on vulnerability, resistance and agency and (4) the links between the specific account of violence and the struggle for women’s rights and social justice.…”