Posted on 10/17/2017 11:35:29 AM PDT by EdnaMode
America Ferrera has added her voice to the growing list of women, from Hollywood and everywhere else alike, who are speaking out about sexual harassment and assault in the wake of Harvey Weinstein's alleged abuse.
Spurred by the #MeToo movement that was started by Alyssa Milano on Sunday, the 33-year-old star of NBC's Superstore took to her Instagram account Monday night to reveal that she was sexually assaulted by a man she knew when she was nine years old.
“First time I can remember being sexually assaulted I was 9-years-old,” she wrote. “I told no one and lived with the shame and guilt thinking all along that I, a 9-year-old child, was somehow responsible for the actions of a grown man.”
Ferrera continued, “I had to see this man on a daily basis for years to come. He would smile at me and wave, and I would hurry past him, my blood running cold, my guts carrying the burden of what only he & I knew — that he expected me to shut my mouth and smile back.”
She concluded her post by asking women to "break the silence so the next generation of girls won’t have to live with this bullshit."
Ferrera began her post as a "Me too" response, a growing social media movement sparked in the wake of decades of allegations against Hollywood movie mogul Weinstein. Over the weekend, Milano put out a call for anyone who has ever been sexually harassed or assaulted to reply to her Twitter post with those two words.
"While I am sickened and angered over the disturbing accusations of Weinstein's sexual predation and abuse of power," she wrote. "I'm happy — ecstatic even — that it has opened up a dialogue around the continued sexual harassment, objectification and degradation of women."
In the first 24 hours since she posted the call, the hashtag #MeToo was tweeted nearly a half a million times, according to Twitter. Debra Messing, Anna Paquin, Patricia Arquette, Evan Rachel Wood, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Lyonne, Tatiana Maslany, Jenny Slate, Lady Gaga and Gabrielle Union are just some of the Hollywood names who have tweeted the hashtag.
More than 40 women have come out to allege sexual harassment or assault against Weinstein since the New York Times first broke the story Oct. 5.
The point being that no one has done anything to stop it for all those years, and victims have to keep on not just living with horrible memories, but sometimes experiencing incidents again, or having their friends, daughters, granddaughters or sons go through it and still, little constructive is done about it. It doesn't just happen in Hollywood. I was molested (not raped) twice in my own pleasant suburban neighborhood by the time I was 12 years old, and nothing was done or would ever be done to those individuals, and now I am over 70, having lived with the disgust all this time.
Sex harassment continued thoughout my college and career days, and didn't stop until the typical male who would have indulged in sex harassment would, when I hit 50, instead indulge in ageism and open rejection of the worth of my contributions at work, sending the message that sexual attractiveness to him was the deal breaker no matter how many millions in billings I brought in. I know I am not the only professional woman to have experienced this. One of my bosses didn't realize how old I was -- I looked younger -- and when he found out my age, his behavior changed overnight from leering to rejecting, simply based on a number.
It would be hard to tell you how disgusting and off-putting this selfish, adolescent and essentially masturbatory standard of employment policy seems to a married and happily heterosexual woman.
Even the males in Hollywood who complained about sodomy rape and named names -- nothing was done. It's not so much about sex as it is about power and exploitation. And it stinks on ice.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
America Ferrera is a fat, talentless Mexican. They are a dime a dozen.
Screwing directors is the only way I can account for her success. In this case it would be a guy named Dan Schneider.
PS: She hates America and conservatives. She can get eaten by coyotes for all I care.
He got rolled up for more than that. He was implicated in the kid porno case that got Jeffrey Jones.
Yep.
They do not want to get sued, dragged through the mud and have their careers ruined by libel suits and armies of lawyers hired by the richer-than-they powerful abusers in their industry. That is the entire point.
It is only because some have now come forward that hundreds of others can dare to say what happened to them. They have been silenced. They did not or cannot produce prosecutable evidence because not only are these encounters "he said, she said", but because abusers become very strategic about how to do it without gettting caught.
I remember every moment.
I only wish it would happen once more.
If it were your wife or daughter who would have to face the deep pockets and legal team of a wealthy and powerful abuser, you might care.
The reports on Weinstein are that not only did he blackball career advancement, but also had bad publicity printed in the media about any potential accusers. Bullying is a real thing, and it is very painful and destructive. Your blaming the victim is the kind of thing the bully counts on to continue his (or her) abuses unimpeded.
It’s the new Hollywood fad for 2017.
Claiming to be “bisexual” is so 2016.
= = =
Remember, they are Actresses.
They portray fictional persons.
Maybe you are right, maybe I am wrong. But it really feels sleazy the way it is being done.
And if there was ever a time to name names, that time is now, while there is blood in the water.
Another on the "Me Too!" train. Another starlet milking it for all the publicity that can be had. Not milking it? You so brave? Great, then name names! Until then, like many of your peers, you're an attention whore.
I do not know who most of these actresses are, and I had never heard of Weinstein before. Don’t follow the Hollywood culture. But am I the only one who finds it strange that the actress quoted here does not name her abuser?
Obviously, when I posted my comment at 31, I had not yet read through the comments of others here.
You're right.
Thank you for posting your comments.
She’s within spec.
Figures. She’s an anchor baby.
Unless they name names, it didn’t happen...
“If she doesn’t name names, she’s just gargling for applause.”
Well put. Thee porn whores continued to be sexually active in their careers to get dame and fortune. They ask for it, beg for it, and work hard to do it. They said nothing all these years, letting girls younger than them become victims.
Same reason that men turn GAY after being sexually assaulted by older men when they are young.
sounds like I should have made a different career choice.
an agent in Hollyweed.
That’s if I was a lech and all them young things were wandering around like vestal virgins of virtue seeking gainful employment in the “industry”.
Unfortunately, it sounds like quite a few others beat me to it.
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