To hav3 had enough of Harvey Weinstein on the radio

Sorry GracesGran, I was typing as you posted. Thanks for your comment.

Yes, its a great pity but it seems that dreadful phrase "the catching couch" which means that would be actors may be expected or coerced into sexual activity with producers, is alive and well.

No one suggested all predatory, sexually abusive men are also likely to sexually abuse children. Some are and it can be part of a pattern of the abuse of power, the use of sex as a means of self gratification and control of victims.. It isn't unusual for such individuals to come from families where sexual boundaries are blurred to say the least

It isn't the women who make the allegations who are responsible for HW's behaviour. The radio news this afternoon reported that HW is seeking 'treatment' and admits all but the more serious allegations against him. He didn't sound contrite in the clip I heard.

So many young women experience sexual harassment in the workplace, in the street and generally in their lives. It isn't surprising that it may be even more prevalent in the entertainment industry - in La La Land.

him

I have to agree Iam. Degrees of abuse worry me.

AB This man is using his power to abuse people women. Why make excuses for the man him.? Why is it that you are willing to let him behave like this. It reminds me of when men could batter their wives more easily and other women would tut and mutter and find some reason why it was her fault. If, instead of sexually assaulting someone he had beaten them up would it still be their fault. Assault is surely assault.

The casting couch is as strong as ever, and it is not that I am blaming the girls and excusing the men. Did H .Hefner ever have accusations of sexually abusing children?

There has always been lecherous men but to link them with child sex abuse is wrong.

I do not see all these girls as victims , was Paltrow and Jolie in danger of damaging their careers by speaking out

jezebel.com/heres-gwyneth-paltrow-and-david-letterman-casually-disc-1819401114

I'm uncomfortable with this notions of a hierarchy of victims. My experience is that some of us are more resilient than others. Some can experience horrific childhood abuse yet seem less unable to live.a life than someone who may be thought to have suffered "less".
It's also true that many men who abuse adult / young women, are indiscriminate in their abuse and may sexually assault small boys or girls if the opportunity arises.
Call me old fashioned but I thought the "casting couch" was something that happened and was seen as the norm, in the 1950's but that it was now seen as sleezy and exploitative. To blame the young women (and I'm sure young men) who weren't tough enough to withstand the powerful men who could make or break their career, rather than putting responsibility where it needs to be, with the abuser.
I hope the HW issue will lead to more discussion about relationships. sexual exploitation and abuse and what NO really means and how to say it.
Anyone who has worked with survivors or young children beginning to talk about their abuse experience will be familiar with the facts. Sexual abuse and exploitation is part of every day life sadly.

He has not yet been charged with any crime SueDonim, and groping women does not mean it leads to child abuse .

One woman accepted a pay off, she was willing to accept payment so hardly a victim. And if these woman were traumatised why did they appear at award ceremonies with him.

I just cannot share the view these women were victims, if his reputation as a groper was so widely known why did some meet him in hotel rooms ?

GG your criticism of my comments are unfair, or perhaps I did not make myself clear. I was not, in anyway, victim blaming and I resent the implication that I was. What I was trying to convey, perhaps clumsily, that the victims of HW, as far as we can see, did have the choice to walk away, something which children in care being abused by their guardians did not. I am not in any way saying that a man is above the law, or that the victims, adult or child are to blame.

Of course 'cared for' children are more vulnerable than aspiring actors. The former have little choice in anything. If they run away they'll either be found and taken back to the same institution or be befriended by other people on the fringes of society. These people may or may not exploit or abuse them but are rarely in a position to give them a secure life.
Actors are older and can make their own minds up whether allowing a grope is worth it or time to take a stand against selfish sleaze bags.
On a lighter note at least I now know why some A listers wore those ghastly, unflattering, over embellished gowns by HW's wife.

I am not doing any such comparison. Any and all such crimes are abhorrent. Crimes against women are part of a continuum that can lead to abuse of children. They're not separate things.

There is an article on the BBC today entitled Harvey Weinstein: did everyone really know? It details exactly how he got away with this for years.

Good points raised there Anniebach

I realy think comparing casting couch antics with those boys in North Wales children's homes is cruel, they lay in blood stained beds frightened and in pain. Many have taken their own lives. Ms. Paltrow and Ms Jolie looked very healthy and Ms Jolie's husband continued to work with the man who allegedly harassed his wife. Not forgetting Ms Jolie has been showered with humanitarian awards and praise yet remained silent on an alleged sex fiend

isn't rape and abuse ALWAYS about power and control? There are no degrees of rape its a vile abhorent crime against women and children and we shouldn't be victim blaming regardless of the reason they kept their abusers secrets

the adults involved could have decided that getting into or staying in the film industry just wasn't what they wanted if doing whatever unspeakable things HW wanted them to do was the price.

Do you not realise what you are saying GillT57. Your words are comparable with those boys who shout "whore, whore" after a gang rape at girls who have gone into the 'wrong place' despite the fact that it is public space.

You are agreeing that a man who is powerful is above the law and may, not matter what the woman's job is, either assault them or deprive them of their livelihood. Is this just inverted snobbery because their job is as an actor - presumably you are saying we don't need actors so they should do something else - or would you apply this to the office worker - she could always have left her job - or a nurse, say - she could always have left her job. The surgeon may be a nasty piece of work but he is powerful so she must loose one way or the other because of his sense of entitlement.

I cannot believe in this day and age these things are still being said and women are still blaming women.

SueDonim thank you. That was a really well directed post.

GG I do think your posts are going a bit OTT.
Do you maryeliza? I am shocked and horrified by what some posters are saying. If it sounds like that my message is exactly what I want it to be.

I don’t think comparisons are de facto odious.
There maybe some truth in that of course. Just because people have been saying it since the 1500s doesn't mean that that collective view, gained over those hundreds of years has any truth in it.

Vulnerable children being abused and let down by the very institutions that should be protecting them
So are the adults. What is the point of this comparison? Both should be looked after under the law and within our culture.

Apart from mostly’s excellent point, I’m finding some of the details voyeuristic and salacious.
That is because you and mostly are choosing to access the very sources you are complaining about and it is whatifery when it comes to the survivors and the predatory acts.

As for comments about his wife - this whole sorry saga is full of a cast of hundreds of enablers who all it now appears ‘knew something’ and his wife knew nothing?
Again you are complaining about the very thing you are helping to engender. If you didn't watch, listen or read the more gossip orientated source they would stop a lot more quickly.

I also think that there is a huge difference between sexual harassment in the ordinary workplace and that in HW’ s world. His world is one where women’s looks above all determine their success. All these names we’ve heard about in the last few days are complicit in the construction of a view of women which impacts then on all females - size of breasts, smoothness of skin, thinness of body. And adds to the narrative that encourages men to see women merely as sexual objects of desire in the workplace and elsewhere

I agree with the op to a certain extent, the coverage of this news item is way over the top, given it's Hollywood which isn't the real word. There's an air of hypocrisy about it, because the way HW behaved was a well known fact in many circles, I'd read articles that alluded to his behaviour. The shock horror expressed now seems almost forced, in that anyone who has had dealings with him is expected to make some sort of statement expressing their condemnation in a too little too late kind of way.

Possibly some of the women accepted the quid pro quo of the casting couch, but I don't think it can be assumed just by looking at well known actresses as they are today that they weren't at one stage the young ingenue as the incidents referred to are historical. Many said they felt cornered and humiliated by his gross misconduct. In some of their descriptions it sounded as if they the victim had been cornered and had to use their wits to extractate themselves from a tricky situation. As one of the women stated, HW was all powerful in Hollywood so there wasn't anyone who they felt they could go to journalist or otherwise who would have listened to their side and possibly they would have been cast as some money grabbing opportunist.

Standing up for Anya here. The people who were abused or molested by the loathsome HW were victims, but they were adults, adults who had an element of choice. Yes, he was a bully and abused his power and no doubt did the 'you'll never work in this town again'threat, but, but, but, the adults involved could have decided that getting into or staying in the film industry just wasn't what they wanted if doing whatever unspeakable things HW wanted them to do was the price. The children in care had nobody to fight their corner, nobody to believe them, nowhere to walk out and go to. This is not about degrees of victimhood or victim blaming, but to compare Ashley Judd or whoever being groped to a terrified child in care being held down and raped by the very people who were supposed to be looking out for them is not helpful and somehow diminishes the dreadful abuse that children have suffered. I am not in anyway excusing what HW did.

To answer the OP, yes, YABU.

The Harvey Weinstein story is just the tip of the iceberg. The type of harassment these women have had is repeated throughout society. I endured it myself in the 1970's. I was young and naive and didn't have a clue what to do about it. My word against an older, very much senior colleague? I wouldn't have had a chance. Luckily an older woman witnessed what was going on and took my harasser to task.

For the average young woman to see that this harassment can happen to famous women is a step to helping them realise they don't have to put up with it. The more women speak out, the more likely it is that the problem can be tackled. After all, we encourage the victims of domestic violence and abused children to shout out. The HW story is just a continuum of the same sorry tale and it's better to get it out into the open and call it what it is - abuse of power and privilege with evil intent.

As for comments about his wife - this whole sorry saga is full of a cast of hundreds of enablers who all it now appears ‘knew something’ and his wife knew nothing?

GG I do think your posts are going a bit OTT.

I don’t think comparisons are de facto odious. Vulnerable children being abused and let down by the very institutions that should be protecting them - the care system, the police, the CPS and god knows who else in the establishment (MT was informed about CS behaviour but still chose to approve his knighthood) is very different from the stories coming out about HW. I am not victim blaming but there are different degrees of victim hood. Apart from mostly’s excellent point, I’m finding some of the details voyeuristic and salacious.

I feel you are making it very personal Anya. You are denying the survivors the truth and supporting the culture that says it is okay for powerful, predatory men to do what they want because it will always be the woman's fault.

Add to that your sickening comparison between vunerable children and vulnerable adults and the 'getting personal' comes from you Anya and your superior vision of yourself as the 'better person' than these women in the same circumstances. You are making it very personal indeed.

It gives the MSM a very good, and "politically correct", reason to put glamorous, scantily clad women all over the TV news and front pages.