Constant news alerts on my phone throughout the course of the day inform me of each new actress who has come forward and spoken out against sexual harassment in Hollywood. Most notably they are sharing stories about Harvey Weinstein, the (former) Miramax producer who has assaulted numerous A-list celebrities over the course of his career, but he is not the only predator in Hollywood. In fact, there are Harvey Weinstein's in every corner of the world; in every profession and every position of power.
The buzzwords "shocked and disgusted" are thrown around as often as "hello" and "goodbye"; but is anyone really that blatantly ignorant and blind to the world around themselves that they are shocked? No one is shocked. Women certainly are not shocked. The only element of shock and surprise that I feel is the shock and surprise that it finally took this long for anyone to pay attention to the truth.
People in Hollywood are now admitting that there were rumors of Mr. Weinstein's misconduct for years; New articles every day show evidence--some subtle, some not so much-- of actresses standing up against him in years past. People knew but these same people were either too scared to bring attention to this or thought it was a normal part of our broader western society as a whole: Our culture dictates that women are to grovel in submission around men of power.
A woman is scared to speak out and go against the status quo most specifically in the workplace because she is scared of losing her job, her career, her livelihood, her source of income, her everything.
Some are arguing that rich and powerful Hollywood women should have used their platforms long ago to stop men like Harvey Weinstein. Acting is a job, a career, a livelihood, a source of income, an everything for women in Hollywood. Just because these actresses have a certain level of fame, prestige, and money in the bank does not make acting any less of a profession. It does not make these women invincible. In fact, these women are even more vulnerable than women in the average workplace.
In the hierarchy of Hollywood, men are still top-dog. Actresses struggle to secure pay and benefits equal to those of their male co-stars; women mostly work for male directors, producers and studio heads. See a pattern?
The patriarchy is clinging to life in this country and its beating epicenter is in Hollywood, California.
Women across the country have been sharing their own stories with the #MeToo campaign to show support for victims of sexual harrassment and assault. The campaign is focused on this idea: If enough women speak out against these despicable behaviors largely perpetrated by males awareness will be focused on preventing this from occurring and action will be taken to end it.
Awareness is not enough. If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. Speaking out is not enough anymore. Subtle jabs and hints at this behavior do absolutely nothing to prevent and stop it from happening.
If telling young boys not to hurt young girls is not enough to keep young boys from pushing young girls off the swings, telling grown men not to assault grown women will be equally ineffective.
If someone reads this article, that's great. That's lovely. But nothing I say in this article will bring about action. Awareness alone is not effective in bringing about change. We must practice what we preach. We must be active bystanders and intervene when something seems amiss.
I can promise whoever reads this article that I am not stopping at writing this article; I am not ending this at awareness. I am going to make an impact by educating my male friends and classmates. I recently signed a pledge on my campus to be an active bystander, which means I will 100% intervene if I see harassment or assault occurring. I will take action.
I don't have a harrowing #MeToo story that rivals that of Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lawrence, Cara Delevigne, Molly Ringwald, Gwyneth Paltrow, or any of the (many) courageous women who have recently shared theirs. I attribute my fortune to always being able to run away fast enough; I've aways managed to get away before seeing what was in store for me. I have had countless close encounters--the grabs and catcalls--that many other women experience over the course of a lifetime, but I have been lucky.
One of my closest friends was not as fortunate. She was sexually assaulted two years ago; she knew her attacker.
I awoke to a phone call in the middle of the night. Her voice was hysterical on the other end of the phone. I heard the words that no friend wants to hear at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday: "I think he raped me and I'm really scared."
Over one-thousand miles away, there was not much I could do except be there for my friend. All I could do was believe her and support her. It seems so small but it is impactful. It is imperative that women support other women. We need to believe each other, encourage, and motivate each other.
No action is too small but all talk and no action does nothing.
