Aadya Gupta, Week 8

Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster Too.’- Salma Hayek

About 2-3 years ago, I had the pleasure of watching Salma Hayek perform in the movie “Frida’. I quite enjoyed the movie, and reading Salma Hayek’s moving account of her experience gave me chills for the audience has truly no idea what goes on behind the scenes. The article talks about how taboo the idea of sexual harassment is even now, and how women are forced to keep mum about their experience for many years out of shame, like it is somehow their fault. Women are made to feel like their sexuality is the only thing of value, especially in the film industry, where appearances matter immensely. Harvey’s methods have been echoed by men in power the world over, where they use this power to belittle and sexually harass women. The troubling thought that enters the mind is the kind of environment that Harvey Weinstein would have grown up in, which convinced him that this sort of treatment is acceptable, and when those demands are denied, they are met with uncontrollable rage at the refusal. Since most film directors in the US are men, they are in positions of power and influence where they can coerce actresses to perform sexual favours and jump through multiple hoops in exchange for acting contracts. The demands Harvey made on Salma stemmed from an understanding that since she refused to be sexually available for him, she had to ‘make up’ for that denial through rewriting the script, finding A-list actors, and like her, other women are even fired from their jobs for having the courage to speak up.The trauma that these experiences leave women with is left unaddressed and stays with these women for a lifetime. Were this imbalance to be corrected, the number of women to be harassed would significantly go down. Salma Hayek was spared, because, as she says, she had influential friends. Men target women who are systematically disadvantaged the most, for they have no one to help them. They prey on the weakest. The #MeToo movement empowered scores of women round the world with the courage to come forward and tell their stories, and such waves are important for they signal to the world that these power imbalances need to change. For each person who disregards the importance of the #MeToo movement, there is another who is understands that they are not alone in being not victims, but survivors of these horrifying experiences.