DUMB BLONDE?
Outrage at Charlize's rape comment
SOUTH African-born Hollywood star Charlize Theron has come under fire from a sexual rights group for claiming that when the media pry into her private life it is “like being raped”.
The outspoken Oscar-winning actress said her life had become “fodder” for journalists — so she never googled her name.
She said: “I don’t [google myself”” — that’s my saving grace.
“When you start living in that world and doing that, you start feeling raped.”
Asked whether she meant to express the sentiment as strongly as that, she replied: “Well, when it comes to your son and your private life. Maybe it’s just me.
“Some people might relish in all that stuff, but there are certain things in my life that I think of as very sacred and I am very protective over them.
“I don’t always win that war, but as long as I don’t have to see that stuff or read that stuff or hear that stuff, then I can live with my head in a clear space, which is probably a lot healthier than living in that dark room.”
However, Katie Russell, spokeswoman for sexual violence charity Rape Crisis in England and Wales, said Theron’s comments trivi- alised rape. “Obviously, we’re always very disappointed when an influential public figure, who we consider a role model, uses thoughtless language around rape,” said Russell.
“She is comparing something which I have no doubt is a distressing experience, but it is never helpful or appropriate to use sexual violence as a metaphor for experiences in that way. It detracts from what is a very real and very serious experience for survivors, and it trivialises sexual violence.
“For someone who actually has some understanding of the lifelong impact sexual violence has on its survivors, it is extremely disappointing.”
Theron has long been a spokes-
I can’t be concerned about what some idiot is going to write online about my short skirt. I can only take responsibility for myself
woman for ending sexual violence against women, particularly in her role as a UN Messenger of Peace. She also collaborated with publisher Jane Raphaely in a controversial “Real men don’t rape” campaign in South Africa. It included a TV advert that was banned — and later unbanned — following a complaint that it discriminated against men.
Theron, who won an Oscar for her role in the 2003 movie Monster, is in London to promote her new film, A Million Ways to Die in the West. On Thursday, she was photographed with her young son and partner Sean Penn.
She told Sky news that she tried to ignore the media frenzy that comes with being a celebrity: “I can’t be concerned about what some idiot is going to write online about my short skirt. I can only take responsibility for myself.”
Theron is not the first person to draw parallels between press intrusion and sexual assault.
Kristen Stewart issued an apology in 2010 after she claimed that seeing photographs of herself in gossip magazines was like “looking at someone being raped”. — ©