Rape/Culture

I've finally received my pre-ordered DVD of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which I've been desperate to see since I missed it at the cinemas. It sounds perverse, but I was so excited to see a film about rape, especially from an older female's perspective, nominated for so many awards and generally raising awareness of a difficult subject. It definitely fits my strange little wheelhouse of niche interests (Peanuts; people who identify as Ravenclaw; sexual violence in the media; cats). In a nutshell the film is about Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), a fearsome tiger of a woman left devastated by the rape and murder of her teenage daughter Angela. Seven months after the crime, no one has been arrested and, tired of waiting for justice, Mildred rents three billboards. On them she writes: 'Raped while dying/ And still no arrests? / How come, Chief Willoughby?' The idea of course being to rattle the local police into action. The film focuses on her in...

It started with Johnny Depp. I wanted to see the new Murder on the Orient Express, but I just couldn't bear to send the message that his (settled out of court) violence towards ex-wife Amber Heard was ok; nor for a single penny of my money to support him or his employees. Next was Casey Affleck - horrified by his Oscar win despite accusations of sexual harassment, I vowed to never watch a single one of his films, or his brother Ben's (accused - and apologised on Twitter - for groping a woman.) What a lovely family. Then came some tough ones. I was devastated to cut short Louie (Louis CK's sitcom), Master of None ( Aziz Ansari ) and House of Cards (Kevin Spacey). My existing boycotts are about to get harder. Having not realised Johnny Depp was in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them I actually scored myself a ticket to the premiere in London (a fab night for a Harry Potter nerd) but was gutted to discover he's going to be a major role in the second film. I j...

Ah, another day, another high profile Hollywood 'god' getting called out for BS behaviour towards women. This time it's beloved penguin-explainer Morgan Freeman, who has played actual God in films at least once. As it currently stands, eight women have come forward to Chloe Melas of CNN (who had started her investigation after inappropriate comments were made to her by Freeman) to accuse Freeman of 'inappropriate behaviour' including harassment. A production assistant has documented months of harassment, including inappropriate touching, comments and - ew ew ew - asking her if she was wearing underwear and trying to lift her skirt. A further eight people came forward to support these claims, saying they had witness this alleged conduct. Admittedly many people approached by the channel said there had been no problems working with him, but I find this quote from CNN Entertainment rather telling: 'Several other times during this investigation, when a CNN...

It's time to kill some ridiculous rape myths! When you write about rape and sexual violence, or work with survivors, or even just exist in the world with other people and newspapers and Piers Morgan, you're likely to encounter rape myths. The word myth makes me think of minotaurs and cyclops, and in a way rape myths are similar. They are gross, the pop up without warning while you're trying to do your thing, and they need a fucking axe to the head. (Apologies to any minotaur fans, it's been a while since I took a classics class) You might not think you're familiar with any, but they often come dressed as facts or - even worse - as kindly advice to women. Again, axe. [Note: I know that rape isn't by any stretch of the imagination a crime against women alone, and that it can be just as devastating for male survivors. However, this blog will mostly be talking about sexual violence in relation to women, because I'm trying to untangle the problems of po...

Oh Aziz. I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed. Wait – hold up. I’m furious. This subtle tale of gender power dynamics has been an interesting challenge to those who struggle with getting their head around ‘sexual abuse: the basics’. The #Metoo campaign started by outing a version of sexual violence that most of the public can accept and, to a degree, sympathise with, ie ‘straightforward’ rape. Ugly, unsympathetic man + power + woman who says no + penetrative sex. Minimal need for victim blaming there (although, of course, there are always some helpful comments from Men Who Know Best). Next it became a ‘witch hunt’ – as if the National Lottery giant finger could be poking its way through any innocent man’s curtains to proclaim ‘It’s You’. Then there was Louis CK and the waters got even murkier. He was less hateable than Harvey Weinstein (not a difficult challenge) and this was the type of assault that people find harder to compute, ie non-penetrative sex. [Why do wom...