Epistemic Injustice and #MeToo: Some Initial Remarks

Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, 2020

In part I of this paper, I argue that #MeToo testimony increases epistemic value for the survivor qua hearer when experiences like hers are represented by others; for society at large when false but dominant narratives about sexual violence and sexual harassment against women are challenged and replaced with true stories; and for the survivor qua teller when her true story is believed. In part II, I argue that the epistemic significance of #MeToo testimony compels us to consider the tremendous and often unappreciated costs to the individual tellers, and the increased credibility they are owed in virtue thereof.

APA Newsletter on Feminism, 2019

There are many ways to understand the meanings of the #MeToo movement. Analyses of its significance have proliferated in popular media; some academic analyses have also recently appeared. Commentary on the philosophical and epistemic significance of the #MeToo movement has been less plentiful. The specific moment of the #MeToo movement in which Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony garnered a widespread social media response from sexual violence survivors highlighted the power of a particular form of epistemic response, what I call ‘epistemic refusal.’ In breaking our silence, those of us who are sexual violence survivors have used this strategy to refuse the dominant epistemic structures that have kept us tightly in check. Mass informal disclosure of survivor status represented in conjunction with hashtags such as #MeToo, #WhyIDidntReport, and #BelieveHer creates space for epistemic, ethical, and political community between survivors of sexual violence by denying hegemonic epistemic discourses of contemporary rape culture. Regarding Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony and the social media response it garnered, analysis of three main elements proves particularly illuminating: the nature of mass informal disclosure of sexual violence, what the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport reveals about refusing silence, and what the hashtags #BelieveHer and #BelieveSurvivors can show us about what it takes to begin to overcome epistemic gaslighting.

Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, 2018

Congdon (2017), Giladi (2018), and McConkey (2004) challenge feminist epistemologists and recognition theorists to come together to analyze epistemic injustice. I take up this challenge by highlighting the failure of recognition in cases of testimonial and hermeneutical injustice experienced by victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. I offer the #MeToo movement as a case study to demonstrate how the process of mutual recognition makes visible and helps overcome the epistemic injustice suffered by victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. I argue that in declaring “me too,” the epistemic subject emerges in the context of a polyphonic symphony of victims claiming their status as agents who are able to make sense of their own social experiences and able to convey their knowledge to others.

APA Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy, 2019

SSRN Electronic Journal

Allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and the ensuing #MeToo movement opened the floodgates to a modern-day reckoning with sex discrimination in the workplace. High-level and high-profile individuals across industries have been fired, been suspended, or resigned, while others accused of wrongdoing have faced no consequences, gotten slaps on the wrists, or ascended to the highest levels of power. At the same time, serious concerns have been raised about useful processes by which nonprivileged women and men can address harassment, due process for those accused of misconduct, and the need for proportionate consequenc-

2019

Sample…………………………………………………………………………………………. 144 herself, and tell her story exactly as she wants to, is nothing short of admirable. And for that, I thank her. I thank her for embracing the pain, terror, contradictions, and hope that all come with surviving sexual violence, because it gave me the words to describe so many complex emotions brewing within my soul, emotions I couldn't begin to understand before reading her book. Lastly, I need to thank my wonderful family for their infinite sacrifices that have made my education here at Dickinson possible. I never thought I would be in college, never mind writing a senior thesis that I would end up submitting for honors consideration. I am so proud of myself for getting here, but it does not escape me for one minute that it takes a village. So thank you to my village, my biggest supporters, the people I love most in this world.

The text of a talk I gave a talk to the philosophy society at Birkbeck College, University of London on feminist epistemology on March 23, 2017. The talk was mainly a critique of the feminist theory of domination and power as outlined by Catharine MacKinnon, but also deals with feminist epistemology: consciousness raising, standpoint theory and postmodernism as well as Miranda Fricker's epistemic injustice.

Media Ethics, 2018

Facta Universitatis, Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, 2021

Critics of the #MeToo movement claim that it has gone too far, that not enough hierarchies of abuse have been created to distinguish between the worst kinds of behaviors and those that are problematic but not criminal. The contention is that the #MeToo movement casts too wide a net. In this paper, I make an argument to the contrary: the #MeToo movement has not gone far enough in calling out the totality of abuse women, and some men, face daily. Left outside of the sexual harassment paradigm is gender-based sexual harassment that is not imbued with sexuality but nonetheless happens because of a person’s sex. I advance two related claims. First, the history of how we came to our current understanding of sexual harassment shows the sexualization of sexual harassment occurred because of political, legal, and practical reasons. Nothing confines us to our current view. Second, I argue against the position that sexual harassment is sui generis from gender-based harassment; rather, both ema...

Biography, 2022

One of the risks of a special issue with US-based editors and with a topic overwhelmingly identified not only with the United States but also with affluent white women is that conversations might neglect the expertise of scholars focused on Indigeneity and the majority of the world. The diverse scholars who contribute to this roundtable—while by no means covering every region in which #MeToo activism has taken place—decenter the US in exploring #MeToo discourse, and blend discussions of medium in activism, solidarity, and cultural specificity in relation to their own stories.