Anyone who has seen a newspaper, a news website, heard the news on the radio, or seen a tv screen with the news playing will know that there has been a bit of a scandal in Hollywood this week.

Harvey Weinstein, a big name in both tv and movies, has been accused of sexually harassing women who work for him or audition for him.  He admitted this, made a bit of a half-hearted apology and then booked himself in for treatment at some or other clinic.

It got worse.  He was then accused of rape by multiple women.  A charge he vehemently denies apparently.

I am not going to argue the right and wrongs of sexual conduct.  You don’t get to be a predator on any level and get away with it.  Or you shouldn’t anyway.  I stand firmly with the women who have made these allegations.  I believe the world should know what an absolute beast this man is.

As you can imagine though, especially if you have read my previous rants, I have a few opinions on what is going on in the media.

First and foremost, they are making out that it is all extra horrific because he is a paunchy, sweaty looking grub of a man.  Not something he was criticised for before these allegations arose, incidentally.  But that’s not the point.  Experiencing any form of sexual misconduct from harassment to rape by a man who looks like him is just as bad as being abused by someone perceived as attractive. If you are not open to the advances or suggestions from anyone for any reason, then the act is just as violating and unacceptable.

That has been pissing me off hugely and it makes me sick to my stomach.

That is my main point.  There are however a few more…

They need to leave his wife alone.  She is unlikely to have married someone who she was aware was abusing women.  She has announced that she is leaving him and taking the kids with her.  It has got to be the worst, most sickening feeling.  Being cheated on is bad enough, but when you find out that your husband cheated by abusing women?  That has got to be horrific.  I can’t even imagine how this poor woman is feeling.

On top of that, the press is now suggesting that her clothing line, Marchesa, was only successful because her husband threatened women into wearing her gowns.  It is possible that he did, of course.  He is a bully after all.  But a quick google of the designs shows you that they are pretty too.  I don’t know what was on offer to each person at the time, but it is easy to see why they could have chosen the designs.  I am sure that he made it easier for the dresses to be shown as one in many that the stars get to pick from for the big awards ceremonies, but that does not mean her only success is on the back of his bullying.

Leave her, her family and her business be.  She is going through enough with out being ripped apart for things that are not her fault.

The fact that the press are calling anyone out for their bullying behaviour would be laughable if the subject matter wasn’t so deplorable.

They have spent the last few days pointing fingers at female stars for not making any statement publicly condemning or disassociating themselves from him and his behavior.  Women who have before been very vocal about female rights in the past.  Women who also have worked with this man.  Does anyone think that maybe they were one of his victims and they are too traumatised to say anything?  It’s a possibility and yet these women are being bullied at the moment to say something when maybe they can’t.

Which begs the question, why is the press not screaming out for male stars to step forward and condemn this man?  Why are they letting them off so easily?  So many of his buddies have remained silent.  Why should only female stars have to be outraged?  Why aren’t the men being pressed for statements?

One thing to remember before tarring all his male friends with the same brush though:  People like this often are very good at reading others.  If they sense that someone is of good moral character, they will behave that way with them.  If they sense a deviant behavior in someone, they will behave that way with them.  They will never announce to the world what they are really like and so not every man who played poker with him or went to his parties would have known.  Just as not every woman will have been targeted by him.

Some people will be genuinely clueless about these barbaric acts.  They will be feeling shame too for having not seen it.  We cannot judge everyone who has ever met, worked with or worked for his man.

Which brings us swiftly on to Rose McGowen who is currently waging a one woman Twitter war on anyone she perceives to have been part of a conspiracy of silence.  Or rather, men who she thinks have somehow been a party to the abuse by knowing all about it but not stopping it or speaking out.

This is the woman who instead of reporting her attack by him to the police, or being vocal about it over social media or in interviews instead of just alluding to it, accepted $100,000 to stay silent therefore allowing this man to continue his victimisation of women in his industry.

I am sure she is outraged but why did it take someone else standing up to him for her mouth to suddenly open?  Why does she now feel the need to verbally abuse people for their alleged part in keeping his behavior under wraps, when that is exactly what she did too?  If she had stepped forward at the time, if any of these women had, it would have saved so many more victims.

I feel dreadfully for her having been raped, as anyone would.  But accepting $100,000 and signing an NDA really does her no justice now.  Nor can I imagine it did at the time.  How could that have helped her heal?  To me it just suggests that she chose her career over the safety of herself and other women, which is an incredibly sad decision to have made.  She doesn’t now get to reinvent that.  None of them do.

Lastly, for the moment anyway, I am thankful that women have finally stood up and bought this to the world’s attention.  I really and truly hope that everyone can now find peace and move on.  It must help knowing that no one is using the term “casting couch” any more.  That that these violations are being recognised as sexual harassment or sexual assault, as they always should have been.

I am quite sure that Harvey Weinstein isn’t the only monster that the tv and movie makers have in their midst. I am hopeful that this shameful behavior will now stop.  There has to be greater accountability to people who wield so much power.  They cannot be allowed to continue to behave this way.