Time’s Up, celebrities and the transformation of gender violence paradigms: The case of Oprah Winfrey’s Speech at the Golden Globes (2018)

Abstract

In this paper we assess to what extent Oprah Winfrey’s speech during the Golden Globes 2018, situated in the new context of the #MeToo movement and the Time’s Up initiative, destabilizes the modes of recognition of gender violence, offering an example of the operationalization of the concept of ‘ethical witnessing’ in communication media brought about by celebrities. In order to do so we consider the connections she establishes between the fight for rights and other fights for recognition, redistribution and participation; the degree of transgression of the reified models of identification of the subjectvictim and the focus on the capacity of agency; and the type of relationship that develops between the subject who gives testimony and the witness. The paper concludes that Oprah’s intersectional approach to gender violence, her focus on agency and resistance (verging on heroism), her role as both witness of her own victimization and facilitator of others’ testimonies, and her activism and inspiration for others to engage socially and politically, comes close to transgressing the boundaries of the current mode of recognition and representation of gender violence. Nevertheless, the widely accepted image of Oprah as an authority assumes a hierarchical relation that contravenes an ethical dimension of witnessing. In addition, in line with a liberal position, Oprah reimagines the ‘good victim’ as an empowered individual who overcomes vulnerability, and she envisions the eradication of gender inequality as something that comes from the top down.