Jan 28, 2026
Talk: On the Necessary Transgressions of #MeToo
- 14:00 to 16:00
- Colloquium
- Guiomar Rovira Sancho
Parts of the colloquium may take place in Spanish. You can find a Spanish description below.
ENGLISH
The #MeToo campaign represents a significant shift in the battle against sexual violence and a transformation in the intended use of corporate social media, originally geared toward profit and consumerism. Thus, the #MeToo movement is an unexpected and radical political event that transcends the efforts of declarations, commissions, and legalism, while also driving them toward more effective laws and public policies and demanding other responses.
#MeToo bypasses all definitions and institutions, legal or otherwise, that channel and address the most visible part of sexual violence: courts, NGOs, women's shelters. #MeToo exposes, in an unprecedented way, invisible, widespread, and undeniable harm in the digital public space, in a different format: the aggregation of personal testimonies where the alleged perpetrators are exposed. As a repertoire of action against abuse, harassment, and rape, #MeToo is direct action and a hack typical of digital culture.
From Guiomar Rovira’s book #MeToo. La ola de las multitudes conectadas feministas published in 2024 (see review here).
Guiomar Rovira
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ESPAÑOL
"La campaña #MeToo representa un cambio significativo en la lucha contra la violencia sexual y una transformación en el uso previsto de las redes sociales corporativas, originalmente orientadas al lucro y al consumismo. Así, el movimiento #MeToo es un acontecimiento político inesperado y radical que trasciende los esfuerzos de las declaraciones, las comisiones y el legalismo, al tiempo que los impulsa hacia leyes y políticas públicas más eficaces y exige otras respuestas.
El #MeToo elude todas las definiciones e instituciones, legales o de otro tipo, que canalizan y abordan la parte más visible de la violencia sexual: tribunales, ONG, refugios para mujeres. El #MeToo expone, de una manera sin precedentes, el daño invisible, generalizado e innegable en el espacio público digital, en un formato diferente: la agregación de testimonios personales en los que se expone a los presuntos autores. Como repertorio de acciones contra el abuso, el acoso y la violación, #MeToo es una acción directa y un hack típico de la cultura digital."
Del libro de Guiomar Rovira #MeToo. La ola de las multitudes conectadas feministas, publicado en 2024 (Ver reseña aqui).
Guiomar Rovira
Contact and Registration
The MPIWG Gender Colloquium 2025/26 is open to all: academics, students, and members of the public are all welcome to attend, listen, and participate in the discussion. Please register here: gleichstellung@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
About This Series
Evidently, feminist progress and male violence grow concurrently: the feminist paradox signifies that the more equal women become, the more hatred and violence they face. Today we can see misogyny —Frauenhass in German—everywhere, including new forms of violence such as cyberbullying. It is a proven fact that misogynist violence is constantly on the rise—that is, violence specifically directed at women, such as domestic violence, femicide, sexual assault, stalking, hate speech, and pathological attempts to control their lives.
Women’s right to make decisions about their bodies should be self-evident, yet it is enshrined in law in only a few countries around the world. Historical trajectories show that reproductive biases are aligned along the axes of class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Hence, we use reproductive rights as a common, intersectional thread to investigate the backlash against feminism, which has culminated in an ever-increasing onslaught. There can be no doubt that the current backlash against women’s rights goes hand-in-hand with the rise of far-right extremism.
The 2025/26 Gender Colloquium at the Institute brings together scholars and professionals from the medical and biomedical sciences, public health institutions, media and film, political and legal sciences, and the humanities to confront the issues of abortion, early marriage and female genital cutting, femicide, forced sterilization, #MeToo, and reproductive regimes.