Is Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction a #MeToo Victory?

There is nothing to celebrate here. It is a tragedy for everyone. Ms Gruber is right. Our horrific punishments of long prison sentences are sick. I wouldn't want that for anyone either. Unfortunately, there is no alternative. We punish people. That's what we're good at.

The Weinstein verdict is an important part of a much bigger shift, that’s been building for the past 50 years. It must be a very confusing time for men. They pushed back on early feminists, but over time, found themselves starting to see women at work, or even taking their jobs, while being pushed to take more responsibility at home. However, now they face a bigger threat, one intrinsic to the male psyche, their sexual power. It’s so deeply ingrained, that men I’ve spoken to, are in denial that it’s even a thing. The older generation of men lacked awareness because they faced the truth, that the variety of behaviors they thought were “harmless”, were actually abusive and now have consequences. When a friend was hit on by her brother-in-law 15 years ago, her distress was met with a single, “I’m sorry, get over it”. If it happened today she could point to “Harvey Weinstein”, to help describe her anger and disgust. To all the women who endured a myriad of behavior deemed harmless by men, or much worse, that is monumental. It won’t happen overnight because of the Weinstein verdict. But hopefully, when we look back, it will be the seminal moment, when these brave women let men know their behavior and cavalier attitudes were coming to an end. My biggest hope is that younger men will absorb these changes, for the right reasons, and make them a part of our future.

What a pathetic man. He looks so weak, vulnerable, beaten. He is finally paying the atonement for which is has done and it is so long overdue. His contaminated karma will never likely be changed in this life unless he can really really change. He enjoyed his privileged life for so long but no longer. Men such as him should be very afraid. You can no longer act like this and get away with it.

It’s a victory but how will victims who work for much smaller companies, who don’t have the means to hire attorneys, assert their rights?

The aspects brought out in the quotes are worthwhile, but that’s what “Victory” looks like. Life is not a baseball game, which, while there are many things to argue about during the course of a game, no one ever argues about who won and who didn’t. The verdict is the climax of a movement which, while long overdue, has changed the world—big time. While not totally rare, these don’t happen very often. So it doesn’t mean it has to feel totally sweet; doesn’t have imperfections; won’t have unforeseeable ramifications, some of which will have bugs to work through—but is clearly a victory. I’d go even further and say that while the common framing has it is a victory for women, it’s actually more than that. Beyond even this issue, it shows we can actually reverse the direction of our societal decline. Therefore, it’s a victory for society, as well as our spirit! Maybe it’s a sign of the times that we’re so beaten down, we have trouble recognizing some uncommon very good news.

Yes, Weinstein's conviction is a MeToo victory. But it is hollow, because MeToo has put nearly all emphasis on prosecution and punishment after the fact, and said little about reforming rules, adding safeguards, and improving prevention. Most cases of abuse do not involve billionaire Hollywood movie moguls, who blatantly misuse their power to conduct "interviews" and "meetings" in hotel rooms and penthouse suites, after hours, over decades, with many dozens of young, susceptible females. Such cases cannot often be successfully prosecuted in courts, because she-said versus he-said is, in most instances, insufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt under a system favoring presumption of innocence. Instead of pressing for reform of work procedures in the performing arts, replicable in other professions not just Mr. Weinstein's now former one, MeToo, relying on something like sixty she said (variations of the same story) has managed to champion and cheer the punishment one extreme and untypical offender. It is not too late to proceed more efficiently going forward, but a lot of time and effort has been wasted so far trying to blame the entire male gender instead of working to reform systems, so that there is less abuse of them, and better protection against such abuses. Weinstein's downfall was successfully (and quite justifiably) achieved, which probably would have happened without MeToo. The broader issues will not be redressed without quite different tactics.

The matter wouldn't have been prosecuted without the movement so in this narrow sense it is a victory. The verdict itself is important symbolically but Weinstein's case, like Cosby's, is an outlier in so many ways that its significance will probably be limited to its own notoriety. The point of it all is not only that victims be heard but that behavior changes. Men behaving like gentlemen in the workplace and elsewhere. But also when there are violations for women to be comfortable about reporting the assaults promptly. This should be the lasting victory of Me-too, since prompt reporting will inspire confidence both in the allegations and in the system charged with adjudicating the claims.

I'm sure many people will be very happy with this outcome. I'm also sure many will yawn and say so what. Every minute of every day someone, irrelevant of gender or sexual orientation, is using power for sex. The apparent fact that some, if not all, of his victims continued to have some form of relationship with him speaks volumes, certainly to me. I still don't get what all the fuss is about, or how he can end up in prison, for doing what so many do every day. Which may include many of those applauding the result. I guess it comes down to is it rape or effectively unwanted but effectively consensual sex, and either way claimed some years after the event.

I can only speak as an Australian that has watched with a broken heart the decline of the USA’s values under Trump and certain captains of industry. This case; the transparency, the legal rigour and the high ideals of your laws and gave me hope for the future. For the world’s future. Your laws set the standard and I hope you feel proud. And a big YES to Rose McGowan.

Can we all give Rose McGowan the just thank you that she deserves? What an amazing person, so sensitive yet strong. Very proud of what she did.

So Trump gets a pass??

The message is clear (to District Attorneys and the #MeToo Movement): you need evidence. You can't rely on social media to fabricate evidence and try to prejudice juries. The remaining charges are a win for victims. Becuase the jury felt there was substantial evidence to support the charges. Due process and solid evidence is vital for the MeToo Movement to remain credible.

No. A jury believed that the stories were sufficient to convict without either physical evidence or witnesses. Only stories... Now for this to have happened, they were given permission to accept these stories without forensic/material or witnesses as backup. So going forward, there will be no legal standard for truth-verification other than that of public opinion. This is a legal disaster. These actresses got what they wanted only because, as entertainers, they could collectively access the press to create a tsunami effect post facto. This is hardly the case with working-class women. Moreover, these women stripped themselves of dignity by failing to immediately report the incident. They climed as much; but also used the contradictory rebus of 'trauma'. Well were they--or were they not-- making rational decisions not to quickly accuse? What this portends is that accusations of rape --if done collectively-- can be extended ad infinitum from the time of the event. All sorts of psychobabble can be entered to explain why the woman failed to file charges in a timely manner. So here, accepted standards of evidence have been sacrificed to the whine of public opinion. Yet said standards were devised in order to protect the integrity of the courts from such nonsense. Procedure and evidence were firewalls devised to keep us from descending to the level of trumpism. Me-too-ism, then, seems nothing more than trump on his head. We'll pay the price for that in November.

Why was he not convicted of the predator charge ? 80 witnesses !! I wish there were restorative justice - prison is a blunt instrument. He’s the end of an era. Here’s hoping it sticks.

This is a massive victory for #MeToo. After all, Weinstein’s is the story that precipitated the entire movement. For the interest of justice, it is tremendous achievement that a predator will be punished for his rapacious conduct. An even greater achievement for the movement will be its chastening. That means rapists like Weinstein will be held accountable, but men who have done nothing wrong like Anziz Ansari are not promptly sullied by an unsupported or even meaningless accusation. Same goes for individuals like Senator Franken, who acted inappropriately, but was damaged disproportionately. Senator Franken’s career is over, his life derailed, because he took a crude photo. This is not justice. #MeToo will only be strong if it is credible. It must maintain the support of likeminded men and moderates. Otherwise, it will perish like the false accusations it has facilitated.

the mobs that protested loudly outside the courthouse surely had a huge influence on the jury. That's not right and will forever taint this verdict. Harvey is no angel but it seems he is a victim of mob justice and hysteria.

I agree with Moira Donnegan, that the verdict is too small, considering that 90 women accused him. To me, the trial and verdict smacks of what I can only call "gesture-ism". Perhaps it's a legal issue I don't understand, but why was there only a handful of counts against him? Why didn't the prosecutors look into all the accusations that came to light as a result of the MeToo Movement? And finally, would anyone like to bet on how long Weinstein will actually serve? Remember Jeffrey Epstein and how his first sentence for sex crimes included up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week on work release? Weinstein's conviction is a very small step forward.