Obviously there’s something wrong with this title. What do
movies and rape even have to do with each other in the first place, and why
would I be making this absurd, disgusting claim?
Many of you may have heard about the incidents regarding
Harvey Weinstein that have been made public recently. In case you haven’t, here’s an article from The New Yorker that details his exploits. But if you’re
not in the mood for reading, thirteen women have come forward saying that they
have been sexually harassed or assaulted by Harvey Weinstein between the 1990s
and 2015, with allegations even getting as serious as rape. And the saddest
thing is, people knew.
In the New Yorker article, the author writes “Sixteen former
and current executives and assistants at Weinstein’s companies told me that
they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at
events associated with Weinstein’s films and in the workplace.” The fact that
people knew, yet did nothing, is a result of hegemony.
The same article mentions that the board of Weinstein’s
company is all men. With men being the only ones holding the highest power in
Weinstein’s company, there is a clear hegemonic control of the company by men.
The considerations of women were purposefully ignored by these men, which is
possible because there are no women in the company holding significant power.
If there was even one woman on the board, maybe this news could have broken
sooner, and maybe someone could have been saved.
The article also claims that women who spoke out about the
abuse they received from Weinstein no longer had careers. Weinstein was so powerful in film-making that
he could effectively shut down any career with a few words. This is a reality
allowed by hegemony. These women are in situations with far less power than
Weinstein, and he uses this fact to prey on women smart enough to keep their
mouths shut. If any woman had been powerful enough to break this story without
losing her career, Weinstein could have been stopped much earlier, and this
aspect is what holds all of us accountable for allowing these actions to
continue.
Issues like the situation with Harvey Weinstein seem to happen way too often in our culture. And the blame, in my opinion, is on the media. The media portrays sexual assault, abuse, etc frequently on the media except most of the time, they gloss it up to make it look less violent and instead, more intriguing. But, I will say that things are beginning to change and awareness on the issues has grown. Women are starting to come forth about what they have gone through, the men who are guilty are starting to get the punishment that they deserve. This also goes towards women guilty of the same crimes. But at the same time, it is still happening? I don't think I will ever understand. But things need to change in order for these issues to cease.
ReplyDelete