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.
I remember when Raquel Welch said she had to fight off a director or producer on her movie 100 RIFLES shot in Spain. She was sure her career was dead when she refused to give in.
Agreed.
Methinks Laz doth protest too much...
Give them a minute to consult with lawyers to protect their own interests before rolling it out. There is probably a run on lawyers around Tinseltown capable of seeing how to prosecute such cases, since in Hollywood, it's so rarely been done.
I worked in the Fortune 100 very white collar corporate world, and the groping and propositions were a frequent annoyance. Except when they were horrifying, like when my married boss pounded on my door one evening when I was home alone to press his demands. Or the time my landlady's husband let himself into my place with her key and stuck his tongue down my throat. Let's not forget the time our boss asked one of my female co-workers out to a goodbye lunch when she was 8–1/2 months pregnant on her last day before maternity leave —he had booked a private dining room, and took out his big ol' johnson at the table to try to entice her. I could go on, but it's been upsetting me just to have it all raked up again due to this scandal.
It was probably actually a "jensen".
Norskies tend toward quickness, while the Danes are blessed with size.
While I have enjoyed joking with you in the past, none of this is a joking matter, FW.
Just to stay on your good side, here is a story about Odin:
Sorry, I hadn’t realized what a solemn role in such matters is played by the medical phrase “his big ol’ johnson”.
Count me as informed.
I would add that it seems to me a sizeable portion of these reports-—not yours, not at all-—seem laughable, if not particularly funny.
As has been pointed out down-thread, starlets suddenly recalling life-marring incidents from forty or fifty years ago just doesn’t add up. You know as I do that the Left specializes in both these kinds of witch-hunts, and revels in any possible connection to victimhood.
I’ll withhold all judgement for a half-year or so, and will refrain from bad jokes to you for keeps.
I realize that Hollywood women are the worst possible spokeswomen for this issue, but it happens to all types of women who work day in and day out with powerful men, wherever there are power imbalances (and, less frequently, it also happens to men).
I made several comments to your point about dredging up stories from the past on the following thread, from post 21 on down. Perhaps it will explain:
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3595826/posts?page=21#21
No need to stop the good jokes, FW. As it happens, our past repartée established that I enjoy wit and humor, and have not turned into a hater. But I can testify that harassment is a real thing.
I can also state that as a professional, I did not date, flirt or seduce at work and turn around and cry about it later. I’m saddened at remembering some of the “nice” married men who came on to me and my women colleagues because in our case, we were among the first wave of women to try to enter the executive suite in the 70s. Being hit on by male colleagues made us feel scared to trust men we might want to date outside of work who might be good guys and loyal.
For the first half decade out of university, I stupidly thought that educated executives, church officials or other professionals would be above that sort of thing. LOL! I am fortunate not to have been attacked or assaulted for saying no to my dozen or so of them; some of my women friends were not so fortunate. But I did pity their wives and children. It’s near impossible to love someone who can’t be honest or be trusted.
Last year it was, how many nude photos/videos of mine were hacked.
Quote from TMZ: 29 women claim to have been sexual assaulted while 1000s had no problem with it.
Pretty much says it all.
So not one of them decided at the time that maybe being an actor or actress wasn’t worth it?
I'm sure many did.
But picture, if you can, being a small girl from a good family who has a talent, and is mentored and encouraged throughout elementary, middle and high school productions to pursue her acting talent. She puts in years, studies drama at university, studies Shakespeare, she goes to master classes in New York, seeks out parts in summer stock and dinner theaters. People applaud and are moved by her performances and urge her to go on, until at last, she gets to Hollywood.
There, she waits tables and goes to audition after audition, fending off the small time sex pests every step of the way, until she finally gets a big break with a bigtime producer who can make or break her career—only to find out that he cannot be fended off. It's put out or nothing. And even if she says no nicely, he takes revenge. He ruins her name among his fellow directors and producers and has nasty articles placed in the trade press—that is what Weinstein did. She is characterized as a no-talent whore who asked for it, or who teased and doesn't deserve any respect. Everything she worked for since childhood is down the drain.
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