Shut Up, Helen Mirren.
By Loryn Wilson - Nov 18th, 2008 at 11:48 amFeministing reports that Helen Mirren believes female jurors in rape cases are “sexually jealous” of the rape survivors:
“Whether in a deep-seated animalistic way, going back billions of years, or from a sense of tribal jealousy or just antagonism, I don’t know.
…But other women on a rape case would say she was asking for it. The only reason I can think of is that they’re sexually jealous.” (Read the rest of the article here)
I don’t know what to make of this really. In an attempt at full disclosure I will say that I am indeed a date rape survivor and I can’t imagine one woman I’ve shared this with ever thinking to herself, “Oh my God, Loryn was date raped by that hot guy? I’m soooo jealous.”
However, are we surprised? This is the same woman who, in September, stated that date rape should be legal because in most of those cases a woman does not verbally say “no.” I have to say that Helen is extremely misguided in this issue to make such a tasteless statement. Ms. Mirren, date rape is defined by the inability to give consent, and if you go to any college or university they’ll agree with me. I’m floored that anyone would downplay the seriousness of any form of rape, be it acquaintance rape or otherwise.
One of the reasons women don’t like to tell if they’ve been raped or sexually abused is because of the fear that people won’t believe them or that they will be blamed–especially by other women. Mirren’s statements remind me that we still have a ways to go before we can create a certain level of understanding about what rape actually is and what it means.
Until then though, I agree with the writers at Feministing. Helen Mirren, please do us all a favor and shut the hell up.
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