Twitter made a powerful statement during the 2018 Oscars by airing their first-ever television commercial that was all about female empowerment.
The ad continued to shed light on Hollywood's ongoing flood of sexual assault and harassment allegations while promoting the hashtag #HereWeAre. "We stand with women around the world to make their voices heard and their presence known. To bring them front and center, today and every day. Join us as we say #HereWeAre," the social media platform tweeted on Sunday. The ad features a group of women of all different ages and ethnicities, including filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Julie Dash, actress/director Issa Rae, and documentary filmmaker and activist Jennifer Brea.
Twitter's message about supporting women is anchored by a poem from NYC native Denice Frohman, who performs her piece in the 90-second slot. "If this poem is the only thing that survives me, tell them, this is how I happened. Tell them, I built me a throne. Tell them, when we discovered life on another planet, it was a woman — and she built a bridge, not a border," Frohman reads.
Twitter's ad comes in the wake of the Time's Up and #MeToo movements, which were both present at this year's Oscars. Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, who Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson revealed that Harvey Weinstein blacklisted both actresses, attended the ceremony together in solidarity. "I want people to know that this movement isn’t stopping," Sorvino said on the red carpet. "We want to take our activism and our power into action."
Jane Fonda, who donned a Time's Up pin on her white dress, also addressed the topic on the red carpet: "Well, it's an important era for this industry and this town, and a lot of other work sectors across the country. Things have really changed and Time's Up represents change. It represents structural change, policy change, psychological change, and I’m proud to be part of it."
But before Twitter begins standing with women in their fight for equality, they should reconsider the very platform that allows users to harass and bully said women daily without much consequence. Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted they didn’t anticipate the harrowing amount of negative comments and that the company hasn’t addressed it quickly enough.
"We have witnessed abuse, harassment, troll armies, manipulation through bots and human-coordination, misinformation campaigns, and increasingly divisive echo chambers," Dorsey tweeted. "We aren’t proud of how people have taken advantage of our service, or our inability to address it fast enough."
