Reese Witherspoon Opens Up About Being Assaulted During Her Time As A Child Actor. We Are Appalled By How Common This Is.
The thing about sexual assault in this world is that it is all pervasive. And it’s not like it doesn’t shock us, it does but you never know how deep the rot is till you know. No matter your age, your cast, your creed, your country or your profession, assault is perhaps the only lasting phenomenon that has managed to skip all realms of discrimination and become an outraging reality for the female population. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or famous, chances are that you’d have been exploited none the less, and corroborating to this disheartening statement is the Big Little Lies actress, Reese Witherspoon.
Recalling the times when she had started out her career in acting, as a child actor, Reese also recalled how she was subject to assault even during those times. Opening up about what she had been through during the start in the industry, Reese told Vanity Fair that, “I was assaulted, harassed. It wasn’t isolated.” And considering this dates back to when she was teenager of only about 15 years old, with her first ever movie being The Man in the Moon in 1991, we are appalled yet not surprised to find out how this could have happened.
She said, “I recently had a journalist ask me about it. She said, ‘Well, why didn’t you speak up sooner?’ And I thought, that’s so interesting to talk to someone who experienced those things and then judge them for the way they decide to speak about them. You tell your story in your own time when you’re ready”. And we agree. An experience as traumatic as that takes its own time and way to come up to the surface, and we are glad that Reese among other women are finally speaking up about it.
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Also Read : In Bengaluru, This Woman Was Sexually Assaulted In A Bus By The Conductor. Her Presence Of Mind Got Him Arrested. She’s So Brave
Talking further about harassment and how the times were very different then from now, she also shared, “There wasn’t a public reckoning 25 years ago when this stuff happened to me. There wasn’t a forum to speak about it either. Social media has created a new way for people to express themselves that I didn’t have. That’s the great strength in power and numbers.”
She in fact, chose to speak about her own mentality growing up and admitted to have been “grew up thinking you dress the way you want to be treated,” but that her 20-year-old daughter led her to think otherwise. She shared how she could tell what her daughter would have to say about it and added, “Why should a woman have to sublimate her own sexuality, because that’s not her responsibility, the way she’s viewed, right? Her sexuality shouldn’t be diminished because she’s having a conversation about consent. You should be able to be sexual, to display your sexuality, because consent is consent, no matter what.”
And considering how this has been misconstrued for years and years that have led to victim blaming, we are glad that Reese Witherspoon didn’t just chose to open up about it but also make a clear and strong statement about how the society needs to change and not the women.
