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Rose McGowan said female celebrities at red carpet events are victims of “visual rape” in an op-ed on Friday. The actress was later slammed on Twitter for making a comparison between being photographed and getting sexually assaulted, but she defended the comment in response to the criticism.
In an essay for The Hollywood Reporter, McGowan condemned Hollywood’s red carpet craze, insisting the practice exploits famous women and makes them look like “odd beauty pageant versions” of themselves. The actress noted that a reporter once asked her if she “felt it was inappropriate for the camera to pan up and down [a women’s] body,” and she answered, “It felt like visual rape.”
After making the comparison, McGowan was first called out on Twitter by Perez Hilton, who wrote, “I usually get down with @rosemcgowan’s musings, but I’m not here for her comparing a red carpet to #rape!! Are U?” The actress quickly responded, “Of the spirit, it’s a metaphor. Jesus.” McGowan continued, “And I know what rape is. You might not. You don’t know what it’s like to be consumed by cameras as a woman & dissected for pleasure of creeps.”
Another Twitter user then chimed in, saying, “Comparing the red carpet to rape is incredibly insensitive and insulting to those of us who are rape survivors.” In response, McGowan revealed, “I’m one, too. Sit down.” And finally, the actress posted a photo of herself next to a statuette of Marilyn Monroe, along with the caption, “Ask her if it felt rapey. And you don’t get to tell me how I feel. So f**k off.”
