James Van Der Beek joins the growing chorus of Hollywood stars breaking their silence about sexual harassment they’ve endured at the hands of industry executives.
“I’ve had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, I’ve had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger,” he wrote on Twitter this morning. “I understand the shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. There’s a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.”
For anyone judging the women who stayed silent, read this for perspective. Also for anyone brushing off harassment as “boys being boys.” https://t.co/UX9xWxpn2K
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017
What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What he’s admitted to is unacceptable – in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out.
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017
I’ve had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, I’ve had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger…
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017
I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. There’s a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017
Salon has this to say about the spate of men (Terry Crews, Rob Schneider) coming forward, and how it doesn’t (and shouldn’t) take away from the urgency in addressing sexual violence against women.
No doubt, Women still make up majority of victims of sexual harassment and assault, but the number of men coming forth with their stories of abuse is rising. In 2011, men made up 16.1 percent of complaints of sexual harassment. By 2013 that number increased to 17.6 percent, according to harassment charges filed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. One out of every 10 rape victims one is male, RAINN reports. A National Crime Victimization Survey found that 38 percent of sexual violence incidents in households were against men.
While shame is something sexual abuse victims of all genders face, men have to navigate a series of barriers somewhat different from women when coming forward with their stories. As Slate explained, even the FBI definition of rape had long left out men: “For years, the FBI defined forcible rape, for data collecting purposes, as ‘the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.’” This description was not rectified until 2012.
Traditional and archaic standards associated with masculinity and vulnerability have not helped to open up space for men to talk about their own experiences of sexual violence. Indeed, trying to appear “strong,” trying to appear like a “real man” often prevents victims from coming forward and beginning the healing process. In attempting to meet society’s standard of the tough, masculine male, victimized men often make themselves weaker, opening themselves up to untreated PTSD and other forms of mental illness, substance abuse and suicide. It’s something we’ve all seen in the wake of Church-abuse scandals and studies of prison populations, but the footprint of sexual harassment and sexual violence toward men is far wider than that.
Sexual abuse against men cannot be normalized and a reckoning of the way the power inherent in rape culture also affects men does not take away from the prominence or urgency in addressing sexual violence against women. Men can be our allies in the fight for justice and in the face of sexual assault, but we must acknowledge that sometimes they can also be survivors.
Food for thought.
