‘Need more men to shut up and listen’: Abigail Breslin pens powerful essay in support of Blake Lively
The lawsuit alleging sexual harassment brought by Blake Lively against her It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni has found support from several quarters. The most recent celebrity to speak up in defence of Lively is Abigail Breslin, who has penned a powerful essay that ought to be essential reading.
In a post on Tumblr that she then cross-posted to Instagram and titled “women = scapegoats,” the actress, who is a sexual assault survivor and actively advocates against it, questioned why women are being treated like scapegoats. She stated that she felt compelled to write out her opinion after Lively’s lawsuit because she too has been subjected to “the same toxic masculinity throughout my life.”
Breslin then goes on to touch upon the hope that the #MeToo movement in 2017 awakened in women, survivors like her, only to quickly fizzle out like a firecracker, as the “next wave of injustice” came swooping in as if it was business as usual after a few days of women’s voices being heard. She further elaborated on how, when she had once made a formal complaint against a male coworker to her employer. But not only was she deemed “a hysterical and wild woman who had it in for men,” but her previous claims about being raped were also deemed “unfounded claims,” and her employer filed a lawsuit against her, which was later withdrawn.
As many pointed out, Breslin could be referring to the lawsuit that was filed against her by the Bulgarian producer of the spy thriller Classified. Breslin starred in it with Aaron Eckhart against whom she had made allegations of “aggressive, demeaning and unprofessional behaviour” on set. The actress even refused to film alone with him in several scenes and had filed a complaint with SAG-AFTRA about this. The lawsuit termed Breslin’s allegations as “imaginary” and “hysterical” but was eventually withdrawn.
In her essay then, Breslin proceeded to question people on why they were so excited to witness the takedown of a woman and be quick to defend men who are accused of bad behaviour. She rightly pointed out how for men who are accused, they are innocent until proven guilty. But for women, we have the burden of proof always on us. And if we aren’t the perfect victim, we are not believed. And this, Breslin declared, needed to change.
In the final lines of her essay, Breslin posed some truly hard-hitting questions about how men perceive women as second-rate citizens and outlets they can push their anger and vitriol into. She concluded by beseeching to change the narrative, and for men to shut up and listen so that women do not have to scream about what’s happened to them.
Abigail Breslin lays down succinctly what’s on every woman’s mind as we encounter more and more stories of atrocities against women. What’s worse though is that women are not being believed when they come forth, and often treated so harshly that it becomes harder for them to speak up. But just as France’s Gisèle Pelicot shifted the shame from her to her rapists, it becomes necessary to first listen to women and believe them. And ultimately shift the burden of proof on those who harass and assault women instead of treating women who aren’t perfect victims like scapegoats.
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