--- title: Melinda Gates: 'Me Too' Makes Rape, Harassment Unacceptable description: The philanthropist writes about the 'Me too' movement that has swept the globe and forced institutions to usher in change canonical: https://time.com/5030114/melinda-gates-me-too/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-20T12:00:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:08.687Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Melinda Gates: The World is Finally Listening. Me too. og:description: 'Discrimination, harassment and rape have never been acceptable. They’ve just been accepted.' og:url: https://time.com/5030114/melinda-gates-me-too/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3a145376668b74e/6988e656929fad2c4dbee8ba/melinda-gates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: MELINDA GATES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melinda Gates: The World is Finally Listening. Me too. twitter:description: 'Discrimination, harassment and rape have never been acceptable. They’ve just been accepted.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3a145376668b74e/6988e656929fad2c4dbee8ba/melinda-gates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melinda Gates: The World is Finally Listening. Me too. Me too. Me too. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Melinda Gates is the FIRST woman to give away more than $40 billion._ by [Melinda French Gates](https://time.com/author/melinda-gates/) ## Melinda French Gates Nov 20, 2017 12:00 PM UTC  Melinda Gates during her interaction with women in Kothwa village in Danapur, Bihar, India, on April 18, 2015\. She was accompanied by Sudha Varghese (light blue sari). Seated on Melinda Gates' right was Rita Devi (dark pink sari) and on her left was Yamini Atmavilas of the Gates Foundation. Sudha Varghese's Nari Gunjan works with women and girls of Dalit communities in this village. Melinda Gates during her interaction with women in Kothwa village in Danapur, Bihar, India, on April 18, 2015\. She was accompanied by Sudha Varghese (light blue sari). Seated on Melinda Gates' right was Rita Devi (dark pink sari) and on her left was Yamini Atmavilas of the Gates Foundation. Sudha Varghese's Nari Gunjan works with women and girls of Dalit communities in this village. Prashant Panjiar by [Melinda French Gates](https://time.com/author/melinda-gates/) ## Melinda French Gates Nov 20, 2017 12:00 PM UTC In 1976, one year after the term “sexual harassment” was coined, the magazine _Redbook_ reported that[ 90 percent of women](http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/a49220/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/) surveyed said they’d been sexually harassed at work. Last year, the [Elephant in the Valley](https://www.recode.net/2016/1/11/11588656/60-percent-of-senior-women-in-tech-say-theyve-been-sexually-harassed) study revealed that 60 percent of women in tech had been subject to unwanted sexual advances. It’s disheartening to think that Silicon Valley today, in some ways the most innovative place in the world, is in other ways almost half a century in the past. But 2017 is proving to be a watershed moment for women in the workplace and beyond. Instead of being bullied into retreat or pressured into weary resignation, we are raising our voices—and raising them louder than ever before. What’s more, the world is finally listening. The stories women are telling are not new—nor, by any means, are they limited to Silicon Valley and Hollywood. I’ve spent the last 20 years talking to women all over the globe, and I hear these stories everywhere I go. From board rooms to presidential palaces to mats spread on the ground in the world’s poorest villages, the message from women is the same: [_Me too_](http://time.com/4989696/ellen-degeneres-me-too-message/)_._ [_Me too_](http://time.com/4988137/me-too-men-listen/)_._ [_Me too_](http://time.com/4987390/me-too-shows-pervasive-sexual-abuse/)_._ In every country and every continent, we have been taught that being born female comes with a cost. That if we are the victims of harassment or discrimination or violence, it’s somehow our fault. It’s the price we pay for daring to have ambition, to seek a job, to express an opinion, to assert our inalienable right to decide who will have access to our bodies. But those who try to normalize this kind of inequality often forget that its costs are paid not only by women but by all of us. How many great thinkers, leaders, innovators, entertainers, disruptors have we all missed out on because the doors to these industries have been guarded by abusive men? So let’s be very clear. Anyone who attempts to excuse any mistreatment of women by saying “what’s acceptable has changed” is missing the point entirely. Discrimination, harassment and rape have _never_ been acceptable. They’ve just been _accepted_. For most of history, women haven’t had an equal say in the norms that shape a society, or an equal number of seats at the tables where decisions are made. We haven’t had an equal chance to determine what kind of world we live in. That is why the cascade of horrifying revelations we have read this year has actually made me at least a little hopeful. In 2017, we now expect something better than what has always been accepted. We have launched a movement bent on shattering the glass ceiling for _all_ women: women of color, disabled women, immigrant women, poor women, older women. A movement about rejecting the roles that society has assigned to us, and to our daughters, and demanding the power to choose our own roles. We are at last confronting the fact that by staying quiet, we protect an unequal, immoral status quo. By raising our voices, we protect each other. Each woman who speaks up about her own experience is making it easier for other women to do the same. And because of the strength in our numbers, the institutions that have enabled systemic sexism and discrimination are starting to act — to fire, to expel, to ostracize, to pass laws. To change. “I wish I had known that there were women in the business I could have talked to,” [Lupita Nyong’o](http://time.com/4990561/lupita-nyongo-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment/) wrote recently. “I wish I had known that there were ears to hear me. That justice could be served.” I hope that her words are this year’s legacy—and that there will always be women to talk to and ears to hear. Because if there are, then justice will finally be served for all of us. ## Transcript People will look at you and they'll try and define you. Whether you're a woman, whether you're young. They'll try and cabin off what you are able to do. But people can only do that if you let them. And so, I always viewed by job as defining myself. If we are in a meeting, we're there for a reason. Not to just sit there and absorb. If you are only there not speaking, you kind of create the impression that you're not prepared to be there. You need to participate and you need to know what you're talking about. You can ask a man to do a job that he's never been qualified to do, and he'll raise his hand and say, absolutely, I will do that job. Women always say, I'm not sure if I'm ready it. I need more experience. I don't necessarily know that there's anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean, why have we come to decide that being brash and overly aggressive should be the way we are. But we should also know that we're not going to feel any wiser or any more ready. Then ten years, then we did ten years ago. So we might as well just leap. There is a lot of perception of, my gosh it's really hard because of the gender, what are you gonna do about that, just not do it? If you wanna do something, then just do it and then hppe that people catch up to you. For girls that are going to play in Little League. Anything can happen. You can be up by 10 runs and you can lose the game, so, play focused, make sure you play as a team and hopefully, you hit a home run because no girl has ever hit a home run and I will be cheering for you. You'll never make everyone happy. So you just have to be exactly who it is that you are, and at least know that you're being true to yourself. It's about attitude, aptitude, and opportunity. Who knew I would be here. But it all started with folks that thought I had a good attitude. That put me in places that challenged me and then provided me opportunities because I met and exceeded the standard. You often don't realize people want you to succeed and they often have very good solutions both practical and in terms of thinking about opportunities for you. And the other thing is, I think it's not too bad To have periods of great intensity doing one thing or the other. Meryl Streep once said, every successful woman's life has its ebbs and flows. Know your power, know the power of your intellect, of your values, and your commitment, the courage you have. And don't let anybody trivialize How you have spent your years. All of them have contributing to making a very unique and special person. Just take joy. Don't let anyone discourage you from that thing that you love the most. It's more about making a life Than making a living, that's what matters. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5030114/melinda-gates-me-too/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5030114/melinda-gates-me-too/"},"headline":"Melinda Gates: The World is Finally Listening. Me too. Me too. 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