In this article I will focus on how the media play an important role in trying to break down the culture about sexism and equality. The focus will, in this article, be on Denmark and how there is focus on equality through the media in Denmark.
Equality is a widespread topic today and can be seen especially through MeToo. #MeToo was started by the American civil rights activist, Tarana Burke, who launched the #MeToo concept in 2006, to have an overall concept, where under you could discuss sexual harassment. On October 15th 2017 came Alyssa Milanos tweet, which became the starting shot for the worldwide #MeToo movement.
Tons of women have since, under the #MeToo, shared their stories about abuse, violation, sexism and rape on social media and in the media.
MeToo in Denmark has two waves. The first one came in continuation of the worldwide focus in 2017, and started off in the culture and media business, where a lot of danish actors stood up and told their stories about sexual harassment. That resulted in an open letter from the former equality minister and culture minister in Denmark to the culture business, in which they encouraged the businesses to take the problem very serious and to break with a taboo culture.
The second wave of MeToo came in September 2020, when the Danish TV-host Sofie Linde, used her platform as host at The Danish comedy show “Zulu Comedy Galla” to share a personal experience she had, where she was sexually harassed. She told that she, as an 18-year-old newly employed at DR at an office Christmas party, had been exposed to an extremely offensive experience.
It creates a domino effect, which can be seen in the way that the focus on MeToo starts. As soon as someone starts to open up about their experiences with sexual harassments, it affects other people to do the same. First the media and culture business, with actors, writers and singers, then journalist and then the political. And you never know who is next.
Sofie Lindes speech has given rise to debate of a very important topic - equality and MeToo. Sofie Linde is a big influencer and spokesperson in Denmark. She has a great impact on people and her words reach out to a lot - both on her Instagram with 607.000 followers, but in this case also through the media and TV. Zulu Comedy Galla is shown on one of the bigger TV channels in Denmark, TV2 Zulu, on a Sunday evening at 8 PM, which is a great sending time with a lot of viewers - actually this gala show broke the viewer record and reached out to 283.000 viewers. That it is especially tv-host Sofie Linde, who tells about being exposed to sexism, is very positive for the MeToo- and equality debate. But even though the MeToo debate also filled a lot in the media in 2017, it doesn’t necessarily mean, that it is a problem, that has just disappeared. And it is quite thought-provoking, that Sofie Linde has to give MeToo attention again in 2020, because that means, that there haven’t been done anything about it since 2017, where we apparently looked a bit the other way. The problem here can be, that the media covers a lot of gossip about MeToo in Hollywood, rather than actually lifting themself up and cover the more general problems there is with sexual harassment.
The fact though is, that MeToo is not only a clean-up in some sexual harassments, about some few examples of peoples abuses, it is a showdown with an outdated system and mindset, that has created a sexist culture. So it is only the beginning with Sofie Linde, and by standing up and giving attention to the topic through media, there has generally been given a lot more attention to sexism and an understanding, that there has to be done some pervasive structural changes, and it has to be now.
A full video of Sofies Lindes speech at Zulu Comedy Galla 2020: https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2020-11-10-laes-sofie-lindes-tale-fra-zulu-comedy-galla
By Sofie B
Sources:
- Picture 1 - Hands: https://issat.dcaf.ch/sqi/Share/Blogs/ISSAT-Blog/How-the-MeToo-Movement-Highlights-the-Need-for-Security-Sector-Reform-in-the-Global-North collected 7th November 2020
- Picture 2 - Sofie Linde: https://headtopics.com/dk/sofie-linde-deler-metoo-jeblik-du-ved-godt-hvem-du-er-15258803 collected 7th November 2020