Victoria Barclay recently published an article in the third volume of the Undergraduate Sociology Journal (USJ) during her 4th year titled “Race, class, and gender: The #MeToo movement & stigma.” In her article, Victoria outlines the ways that race, class, and gender can all intersect to affect stigma associated with the victimization of sexual violence. She observes how the voices of white and upper-class women in Hollywood dominating the #MeToo movement have worked to erase the experiences of racialized and lower-class women in the movement. Victoria recalls the roots of the #MeToo movement founded by Tarana Burke that was intended to destigmatize the sexual violence survivor realities of racialized women. She contrasts this history with the current picture of the movement that has served to destigmatize the victimization of only the most privileged group of women. Victoria calls for social programs and policies surrounding gender-based violence to adopt an intersectional approach and attend to lower-class and racialized experiences of sexual violence that are so routinely neglected.
Victoria Barclay is a U of T alumna class of 2020. She obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) majoring in Sociology and double minoring in Political Science and Equity Studies. She is currently interning at the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario where she works alongside senior researchers to develop and support publications as well as perform qualitative and quantitative analysis. Victoria is also a Campaign Researcher for Students for Barrier-free Access, a student-led disability justice organization here at U of T. In this role, she is drafting a report on how governments and higher education institutions are both succeeding and falling short in their efforts to support students with disabilities during the ongoing pandemic. Victoria was also a Team Member of Pivot 2020 where she contributed to an urban exploration project that evaluated how Canadian cities are supporting youth well-being during and post-COVID-19. During her undergraduate career, Victoria was dedicated to her on-campus involvement notably taking part in the Undergraduate Sociology Students’ Union for three years, coordinating Woodsworth and the UTSU orientations, as well as co-founding the Woodsworth Racialized Students’ Collective. Victoria hopes to pursue a career where she can contribute to the elimination of social inequality and foster community building.
Read Victoria's full article in Volume 3 of the USJ here...