The List: A Novel

In 2006, the activist Tarana Burke began using the phrase “me too” to help young women of color share their experiences with sexual trauma. In 2017, the phrase became a hashtag and a global force when women in the media and entertainment industries used it to draw attention to the actions of famous predatory men such as the movie executive Harvey Weinstein and the TV personality Matt Lauer. As the omniscient third-person narrator in The List states, “[S]tories of systemic abuse were coming out in sickening waves; first from Hollywood, then the music industry, then fashion, then everywhere else” (156).

Criticisms of the #MeToo movement claim that it does not offer much help to working-class women. In a New York Times article, Susan Chira and Catrin Einhorn focus on the experiences of less affluent women in Chicago, writing, “After the #MeToo movement opened a global floodgate of accounts of mistreatment, a former Chicago worker proposed a new campaign: #WhatAboutUs” (Chira, Susan, and Catrin Einhorn. “How Tough Is It to Change a Culture of Harassment? Ask Women at Ford.” The New York Times, 19 Dec.