LADY GAGA HAS been one of many women in the entertainment industry to share her story of sexual assault.
Indeed, in her recent speech at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event, the singer made reference to the acute isolation she felt in the aftermath of her assault when she was denied help from people she turned to for support.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 32-year-old again alluded to the attitude shown to victims, asserting that the treatment and subsequent response had been normalised.
When I started in the music business when I was around 19, it was the rule, not the exception, that you would walk into a recording studio and be harassed. It was just the way that it was.
“You know, there was a ‘boys club.’ Nobody wants to lose their power, so they don’t protect you because if they say something, it takes some of their power away,” she continued by way of explanation.
And while the Shallow singer has every right to feel bitter about her treatment, she chooses to concentrate on the positivity born of the #MeToo movement, launched in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Keen to acknowledge the support she has received recently, she said she has born witness to a shift in Hollywood.
That’s what is so exciting with the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up, to see men coming to stand by our side and say, ‘We want you to be loud. We want to hear your voices.’ It’s really remarkable.
However, Gaga, who is tipped for an Oscar for her role as Ally in A Star is Born, is adamant that these movements need to converge in order to see real change.
What I hope is that these conversations come together — that it’s not just about equal pay on one side … or equal billing over here … and then assault on this side. But that it all comes together and that this movement is all of those things.
Meanwhile, the movement’s founder, Tarana Burke, has expressed concern over the movement’s portrayal in the media.
Speaking at an event organised by TEDWomen, Tarana said women have been vilified for coming forward.
Suddenly, a movement to centre survivors of sexual violence is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men.
She refuses to be silenced, however, asserting:
We shape that imbalance by raising our voices against it in unison, by creating spaces that speak truth to power. We owe future generations nothing less than a world free of sexual violence. I believe we can build that world.
