Here’s Why People Are Mad About The TIME Magazine Person Of The Year Cover

The fact that Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, isn’t on the cover is just one reason

Here’s Why People Are Mad About The TIME Magazine Person Of The Year Cover

by Phoebe Parke |
Published on

Every year TIME Magazine chooses a person, movement or group that has (for better or worse) had the most impact that year, and puts them on the cover of the magazine.

Last year Donald Trump made the cover, and this year ‘The Silence Breakers’ have made it: a group of women that represent those who spoke out about sexual abuse and harassment.

The women are; strawberry picker Isabel Pascual (whose name has been changed), lobbyist Adama Iwu, actress Ashley Judd, software engineer Susan Fowler, and Taylor Swift.

And the elbow in the corner isn’t just someone cropped out for no reason, it’s a hospital worker who wished to remain anonymous, and represents all the women who have been victims of sexual assault but couldn’t speak out.

The cover and interviews inside the magazine and online have caused a buzz on social media with people using Twitter to let TIME know what they think of it, here are the reasons people aren’t happy...

That the founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, isn’t on the cover

Tarana Burke is a social activist who came up with the phrase #MeToo in 2006 and started the movement after an experience with sexual violence, she wrote in Glamour Magazine, and she has been working with schools and community groups ever since.

‘I have to admit that when actress Alyssa Milano first tweeted #MeToo, my initial reaction was panic,’ she wrote in her piece. ‘What if this becomes a popular hashtag, I thought, but it’s not related to the groundwork I laid out?’

Tarana later reinserted herself into the conversation and has been working on helping women with what to do after they have disclosed an experience. She appears in the TIME issue itself, alongside Alyssa Milano in the online article, with an acknowledgement that she created the movement, but crediting Alyssa Milano for making it go viral.

That Taylor Swift is on it

Before the Harvey Weinstein allegations and before the #MeToo hashtag was trending, Taylor Swift was in court testifying against DJ David Mueller who groped her before a concert in 2013, she won the case earlier this year.

But people aren’t impressed with her inclusion on the cover, with some saying she was only chosen because of her fame.

That Kesha isn’t on it

The singer is currently in an ongoing legal dispute with former producer Dr. Luke. She has accused him of physical and sexual abuse, among other allegations, and he claims breach of contract and defamation.

Some think it would have made more sense for her to be on the cover.

That Donald Trump is listed as a runner up

TIME listed Donald Trump as a runner up for person of the year, along with China’s leader Xi Jinping, American prosecutor Robert Mueller, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick and American film director Patty Jenkins.

He said TIME offered him the cover earlier in the year, but he turned it down, TIME denied this, but some people think he was kind of right after all…

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Follow Phoebe on Twitter @PhoebeParke

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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