Although sexual assault has been a problem throughout history, the issue has become more prominent in the last year. Recent accusations like those against actor Bill Cosby or film producer Harvey Weinstein have led to the growth of activist movements to counteract the animosity toward the accusers. With more now speaking out against their assaulters, there have been questions over exactly who to believe as well as whether all the women are credible.

With celebrities jumping on the bandwagon, and encouraging everyday women to speak up and join these movements, I can’t help but wonder whether their support is genuine or if it’s all just in vain to gain more publicity.

Just as the clock struck midnight on new year’s, the “Time’s Up” website popped up online showing people that the sexual assault issue that was so prominent in late 2017 wouldn’t be forgotten so quickly. The “Time’s Up” campaign is made to support the hundreds of thousands of women affected by sexual assault, harassment and raise money as well to provide subsidized legal support for women.

On the same day that the website showed up, multiple celebrities, primarily women, posted the letter that is first seen when you open the website on multiple social media platforms and claimed that they “stand in solidarity” with the sexual assault victims.

Days after the website initially appeared, during the 75th annual Golden Globes, actors and actresses decided to wear all black in order to support the movement. When asked “which designer are you wearing” by reporters, actors went in depth explaining the campaign and the importance of supporting initiatives like it instead of the superficial “oh, it’s Alexander Wang.” Women, and men, wore buttons promoting the movement, Throughout the show the issue was mentioned on and off. Even during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. Demille award, Oprah acknowledged the phrase and all the awareness that it’s bringing toward the sexual assault issues.

Although the celebrities had good intentions, their support of the movement comes off as pretentious. They say that they support the first women actresses who spoke out as victims of sexual assault but yet both Asia Argento and Rose McGowan, as well as others were not invited even to the Golden Globes or asked to sign the “Time’s Up” letter. This makes you wonder if the actors truly support this cause, or if they were only supporting because that’s what everybody else was doing and they didn’t want bad publicity. Wearing black dresses and lapel pins, and mentioning the movement in interviews is nice but when this “support” is not backed up with action, it has no effect on the issue at hand, and So far, little action has taken place.