Victim-blaming transcends celebrity status

Belen Sassone/ Contributing Writer

When a woman reports a sexual assault or any sort of sexual misconduct, the bravery of the act is often overshadowed by the doubt of the public.

For some reason, most people refuse to take the victim’s side and often try to find ways to blame them. They ask her what she was wearing, why she had so much to drink and if she did anything to lead to attacker on, among other insensitive things.

When the attacker claims their innocence, the general reaction is to listen to them explain that they were framed and take their word over the word of the woman assaulted.

But when the victim is a celebrity, not only are they not exempt from criticism and victim-blaming, their private business is splattered across every news site, leaving the public feeling entitled to share their opinions.

Recently, singer Taylor Swift testified in a civil trial against former radio DJ David Mueller who she says groped her during a meet-and-greet in 2013.

When the incident first occurred, Swift only reported it to members of her team, which ultimately led to the firing of Mueller after the radio station he worked for conducted their own investigation.

However, Mueller sued Swift, her mother Andrea and her radio promotions director, Frank Bell, in 2015, claiming that he did not grope her and that they pressured the radio station to fire him.

Because of this, Swift filed a countersuit, demanding only $1, and was present in court every day standing by her claims. Mueller changed his story several times and was even sanctioned by the court for destroying important evidence.

Despite the fact that Mueller has been the one proven to lie, Swift still faced doubt from the public and ridiculous questions in court. During the court hearing, she was asked if she felt anything after hearing that Mueller lost his job after the incident, as if it was her fault at all that there were consequences to his actions.

In response, Swift said, “I’m not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault. Here we are years later, and I’m being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are the product of his decisions — not mine.”

At the end of the trial, the jury ruled in favor of Swift, which was a monumental victory. Swift sent out a statement thanking her team for fighting for her and “anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault,” CNN reported.

“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” Swift added in the statement, obtained by CNN. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard. Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.”

Unfortunately, many other women in the spotlight have gone down similar roads and have faced much harsher criticism and haven’t been successful in proving their attackers guilty.

In 2014, singer Kesha filed a lawsuit against her music producer Dr. Luke, claiming that he had repeatedly forced her to take drugs and alcohol, made sexual advances towards her, and abused her over her weight.

Dr. Luke filed a countersuit claiming that Kesha just wanted to be free from her contract and that all of the allegations had been made up. After an intense legal battle between the two, Dr. Luke was not held responsible for any wrongdoing.

Now that Kesha is able to come out with new music, it’s possible that Dr. Luke may still benefit from the profits.

Seeing cases like these shows women that not even a celebrity status will prevent a victim from being left empty handed after coming forth. It also seems that acknowledging that someone is a sexual predator is impossible when the attacker is a celebrity male.

For example, actor Casey Affleck was sued by two women who worked with him because they claimed he made inappropriate sexual advances towards them. Both lawsuits were mediated and settled out of court, leaving Affleck with little to no consequences and a recent Academy Award.

If more evidence is needed to prove that men who are accused of sexual assault aren’t as harshly punished as the women who report it, you should take a look at the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

He has been accused by several women of kissing them without consent and groping them among other things. His ex-wife, Ivana Trump, even claimed that he had raped her during their marriage. All of this aside, this man holds the highest office in the United States.

It may be awkward and uncomfortable to acknowledge that these things are happening, but people need to realize that they won’t go away if we as a society just ignore them and push them aside.

There’s a lot of unfairness and emotional scarring that comes with reporting an assault or sexual misconduct that you as the victim personally didn’t ask for.

No matter what gender the attacker identifies with, people need to be held responsible and every victim deserves the same level of respect.

 

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.