Scarlett Johansson keeps showing us who she is. I don’t think she’ll change and as the recent Vanity Fair interview shows, she isn’t going away. I would love to never hear her talk about Woody Allen ever again, but here we are. Yes, her position is EFFED UP, but instead of simply rewarding the publication with clicks and social media mentions until we move onto the next outrage, let’s also make an example of her.
OK, not quite like that.
What I mean is her vocal support for Woody Allen in both The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair paints a clear look into the making of an enabler. I couldn’t resist writing about her because she is a great example of this kind of hypocrisy (and she reminds me of a few folks from my own life).
This quote is a remarkable piece of gaslighting. Johannson refutes that she doesnt’t support or believe women while saying she doesn’t believe Woody Allen’s victim who is, in fact, a woman. If Johansson is giving any support, it’s for only for Allen. From Vanity Fair:
But just because I believe my friend does not mean that I don’t support women, believe women. I think you have to take it on a case-by-case basis. You can’t have this blanket statement—I don’t believe that. But that’s my personal belief. That’s how I feel.”
The problem is that “believe women” (or my preferred version “believe survivors”) doesn’t preclude handling reports on case-by-case basis. It’s “believe women” not “women never lie” or “take everything women say at face value without question.” Believe women/survivors highlights how our society gives abusers—especially abusive men—the benefit of the doubt and are trusted more than women and rape victims across the board. (Read my deeper dive into what believe survivors means here.)
Johansson believes and supports some women. And that’s exactly how rape culture continues. No one thinks every victim is lying; all the little exceptions people make is where rape culture thrives.
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