Hashtag MeToo...

I remember every detail as though it were yesterday: I was on a train, in England, heading for the coast and really looking forward to the day ahead. My father’s company had organised a day out for its employees and their families, as it did every year. It was a four-hour journey and so I decided to go to one of the toilets on the train. As I approached the toilet a man in his late thirties smiled at me. Suddenly, he pushed me into the toilet, started kissing me passionately and put his hand up my skirt. I wanted to scream but it was impossible. It was all over within a couple of minutes and he winked at me and warned me not to tell anyone, as they wouldn’t believe me. I was 11 years old.

I went back to my seat where my parents were sitting and just stared out of the window trying to count the sheep in the fields for a bit of distraction. I couldn’t quite understand what had just happened, but I felt completely different from the young girl who was so excited about going to the seaside with her family. I really grew up that day. I didn’t mention the incident to my parents, knowing that there would have been such a fight between my father and this man, who was also an employee of the company. In fact, I never mentioned it to anyone until my sister and I were discussing Harvey Weinstein and I just blurted it all out – after decades .I must admit, I was sexually harassed a couple of times after that, in the work place, and I never reported this to anyone. Why not? Was it because I really didn’t want to cause any problems, lose my job (it was usually the boss who harassed me) or did I think that no one would believe me or take me seriously?

I, like many other women who have been sexually harassed, have probably chosen to suppress these memories, but when we read stories about other women being abused, they come back to haunt us. The ugly world of sexual harassment has been thrust into the spotlight just lately and people are starting to talk openly about sexual abuse in all walks of life, whether at home, in schools or in the Catholic church. It is always horrific for the victims concerned. However, I am surprised that so many people are shocked about the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Unfortunately, it has always been an open secret that many actresses had to endure sexual abuse from powerful film producers and many people chose to turn a blind eye.

Marilyn Monroe captured the horrors of the casting couch in her memoir, "My Story", when she wrote about the disreputable talent managers and casting agents who acted as the "gatekeepers" to the Hollywood dreams of young women like her. She said she had to sit with them and listen to their lies, because they were the only way into the movies. They saw Hollywood as an overcrowded brothel and thought that they were entitled to anyone they chose. Not much has changed since then. All of Hollywood knew that Tippi Hedren, who starred in the 1963 American horror film "The Birds", was being sexually and physically abused by Alfred Hitchcock, as shown in the biography "Hitchcock", but she didn’t have the strength or the courage to leave.

Of course, it is good that the truth is finally being told as one famous actress after another describes what Harvey Weinstein has done to them. However, I ask myself why certain actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, who claim that Weinstein abused them, are only speaking out now? They have been rich and famous for decades and didn’t need Weinstein anymore. Or how can Meryl Streep be so hypocritical to give a standing ovation for Roman Polanksi and Woody Allen, who have both been accused of raping children? That’s Hollywood! allegations – Vorwürfe, Anschuldigungen to look forward to sth. - sich auf etw. freuen employees – Angestellte to approach – sich annähern skirt – Rock to wink – zwinkern distraction – Ablenkung to grow up – erwachsen werden to mention – erwähnen incident – Vorfall to blurt out – ausplaudern after decades – nach Jahrzehnten to harass – belästigen to report – berichten to lose my job – den Job verlieren to abuse – missbrauchen to choose – wählen to suppress – unterdrücken to haunt – verfolgen to be thrust into the spotlight – ins Rampenlicht gestoßen werden all walks of life – alle sozialen Schichten victim – Opfer concerned – betroffen to endure – ertragen to turn a blind eye – wegschauen to capture – einfangen casting couch – Besetzungcouch disreputable – schändlich, ehrlos gatekeeper – Pförtner brothel – Bordell to be entitled – einen Anspruch haben to star – eine Hauptrolle spielen strength – Stärke courage – Mut to describe – beschreiben hypocritical – scheinheilig accused of – beschuldigt to rape – vergewaltigen