Rose McGowan: The Flaw in the Face of the #MeToo Movement
On October 5, 2017, Hollywood imploded on itself.
The New York Times reported that big-time producer Hollywood Harvey Weinstein was being accused of three decades worth of sexual assault and harassment incidents as well as paying eight settlements to various women across the industry. Today, more than 80 women have spoken out about Weinstein’s vile acts and many men have spoken out about how they’ve been complicit with such behaviour. Rose McGowan is amongst them.
Rose McGowan is an actress who has spoken out previously about being raped by a Hollywood executive — never naming them until recently where it was revealed to be Weinstein. She is rightfully brave and strong for coming forward with her story and supporting the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and rightfully angry at Hollywood for taking so long to hear her voice.
By being one of the many women to help take down Weinstein, McGowan has garnered a massive Twitter following where she is unfiltered and unapologetic. She has spawned her own following known as the #RoseArmy where she preaches about taking back our bodies and fighting back against those who try to cause harm. Despite this, McGowan has had multiple flaws with her standing in solidarity with others who have spoken out about their experiences.
McGowan, however, despite being thrown to forefront of what is (frankly) a feminist movement does not support the intersectionality of feminism itself. In simple terms, Rose McGowan is a white feminist — “a form of feminism that focuses on the struggles of white women while failing to address distinct forms of oppression faced by women of colour and women lacking other privileges” as stated by Ruth Frankenburg.
Although she is outwardly spoken on sexual abuse/harassment and the hardships that come from being a women, she still benefits from privilege. McGowan is a cisgendered, well-off, white women whose white privilege has catapulted her to the forefront of a movement that effects people from all walks of life — lives that she does not stand as an ally for.
The lack of intersectionality that plagues McGowan’s feminism has been an ongoing issue throughout her career. In contradiction to the premise of #MeToo and #TimesUp which focuses on speaking out about sexual abuse/harassment stories and condemning those who are perpetrators (ex. Harvey Weinstein, James Franco, Aziz Ansari, and Woody Allen) McGowan has previously worked with director Victor Salva, a convicted child molester. She defended her decision to work with him by stating:
“I still don’t really understand the whole story or history there, and I’d rather not, because it’s not really my business. But he’s an incredibly sweet and gentle man.”
This is an unsettling comment as actors who have previously worked with the likes of Woody Allen, a famed director who has been accused of sexual assault, are being called out on their decision to work with him. Many have come forward to say they regret working with him knowing his past, and even have donated the salary earned from working with him to charities.
In a recent incident, during a book signing at Barnes & Noble for her memoir BRAVE on January 30 in New York, a trans women stood up to McGowan in regards to a comment she made on RuPaul’s podcast. McGowan had stated that “trans women are not like regular women”. Things escalated quickly as the woman then went on to say to McGowan: “Trans women are dying and you said that we, as trans women, are not like regular women. We get raped more often. We go through domestic violence more often. There was a trans woman killed here a few blocks [away]. I have been followed home — .”
However instead of listening to what she had to say, McGowan interrupted her clearly uninterested and later annoyed by simply saying that the struggles she, as a cisgendered white woman, were the same as a transgendered woman. By being dismissive of what this women had to say on an issue she has openly stated to be an ally for, it shows that she is being complicit in the increased rates of violence towards trans women and women of colour.
Instead of reflecting on the incident and taking the opportunity to learn from her white feminism just as Emma Watson has, McGowan immediately cancelled upcoming public appearances. In short, McGowan tweeted that she had “given enough. [She] has given beauty, in return [she] was VERBALLY ASSAULTED for two full minutes” in regards to her decision to cancel appearances following the clash.
From once being “blacklisted” in Hollywood to being offered book and TV deal, McGowan has become a champion for the #MeToo movement despite such distasteful remarks which in turn has, as Flare.com says, “legitimized her — and brought her work.” Yet this does not sit well with many in the WOC/POC and LGBTQ+ community as a white women is seen profiting and gaining opportunity off a movement that was started by a Black women (Tarana Burke) nearly a decade ago nor popularize it.
Perhaps this may not come to the surprise of many that even with such big movement taking place in society right now that it continues to exclude women who are minorities. Alanna Vagionos in the HuffPost sums it up best by saying:
“[It] highlights a common problem: Feminist movements are often whitewashed when they’re brought into mainstream conversations. Women of color are often overlooked and left out of the very conversations they create.”
As McGowan continues to exclude intersectionality within her feminism this is also seen in her social media presence. During the AmfAR Gala in October host James Corden made ill-advised jokes about Weinstein and the allegations against him. McGowan, in turn, called out Corden for his “male privilege in action”yet suggesting he, “replace ‘women’ w/the ’N’ word” in his joke exercising her own white privilege.
The biggest concern with McGowan however lies within her interactions with her #RoseArmy on social media. Her Twitter is filled with retweets of articles where she and her following are praised for condemning Hollywood but fails to highlight any survivor stories unlike other fellow actresses who have also been apart of the movement (Jessica Chastain, Emma Watson, Ava DuVernay, etc.) Instead, McGowan has gone on to launch a website for her #RoseArmy selling t-shirts in support of the East Los Angeles Women’s Centre.
Her use of her following since #MeToo can be viewed that she is using the movement to market herself. While her actions may be genuine and true in nature, there is something about sticking your own hashtag onto feminist movements from other countries that does not sit well.
Rose McGowan’s use of social media and as Lee Kong says “making herself and her fanbase part of a story that’s not really about them” is disheartening to a movement that has gained much-needed traction in recent months. McGowan fails to portray the proper meaning that the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are meant to represent as by excluding intersectionality she stands in solidarity with only a fraction of victims and ill-advises those who are not fully educated on the subject.
Not disregarding the achievements that McGowan has made and without dismissing her story of abuse there is frankly, no way that you can stand strongly, and fiercely on public stages and platforms with your voice being deemed as a champion for women when you do not support all the women within your movement. #MeToo and #TimesUp while is about calling out harassment and abuse is also about the unification of all women who come together to share such stories. McGowan fails to do this.
Rose McGowan has simultaneously helped bolster the #MeToo presence and hindered it due to her problematic viewpoints. Without proper reflection on how her own feminism needs to be worked on the true intentions of the movement she has been pushed to the forefront of and has worked so hard to finally bring to mainstream attention will be lost.
