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The Viral #MeAt14 Hashtag Makes It Clear Why There Is An Age Of Consent

Sarah Midkiff
12 November 2017, 18:45
Photographed by Erin Yamagata.
The hashtag #MeAt14 trended on Twitter this weekend. A flood of tweets were shared, to make a point about the recent allegations against Alabama politician Roy Moore.
Co-creator of The Daily Show Lizz Winstead started the hashtag #MeAt14 to make a statement about the emerging accusations that Roy Moore pursued relationships with teenage girls while in his 30s. Countless people shared photos of themselves at 14 years old, reminding everyone just how young 14 is, and why it is important to have an age limit on consent.
On Tuesday four women came forward, telling the Washington Post that Moore pursued relationships with them while in their teens. One of the women, Leigh Corfman, claimed that he made sexual advances toward her when she was just 14 years old. Moore has denied the allegations, but Twitter refused to accept his denial of the situation.
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Asking her followers to share a photo of themselves at 14, she captioned her photo, "This is me at 14. I was on the gymnastics team and sang in the choir. I was not dating a 32 year old man."
Actress Alyssa Milano who was also a huge proponent of the #MeToo hashtag, shared a photo as well reminiscing about the things that were most important to her when she would have been a freshman in high school.
Winstead's followers responded in kind, sharing photos of themselves as young teens with a caption about what they were doing instead of dating a 32-year-old. "I was riding horses," wrote one. "I was a HUGE Prince Fan," wrote another. For many, 14 is such a transitional age that is still very much apart of childhood.
Others shared photos of themselves at 14 years old having had similar experiences with the women who came forward. "It took me decades to realise that most of the bad things that happened to me were not my fault," wrote one woman.
Women shared memories of how they were grounded at the time the photo was taken, or how the biggest thing on their mind was the next Harry Potter book. It was the time where we might have wanted to be grown up, but we were far from it.
As a result of the allegations, several Republicans have distanced themselves from Moore. Many are asking for his resignation if the news is true, calling the allegations disturbing. It is not as if this information has surfaced for the first time. A former colleague, Teresa Jones, told CNN that in the early '80s, it was "common knowledge" that the Alabama politician dated high school girls. "...everyone we knew thought it was weird," Jones added.
It is not enough to think it is weird or to silently disapprove anymore. People are speaking up and calling the behaviour for what it is: unacceptable.
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