Twitter blew up this weekend when is was released that Harry Styles was groped while performing onstage. For the most part fans reacted in solidarity with Harry, pushing that people should treat everyone with respect and even starting the hashtag #RespectHarry. Unfortunately, there are still some people in the world that might not necessarily sympathize with Harry because it is not your “traditional” case of sexual assault.
Just because he is a man, doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as crossing a line. Just because he is a celebrity, doesn’t mean it isn’t breaking personal boundaries. It is important for everyone to understand that famous people are people too and that they can be violated just as much as the next person.
Look, I love Harry as much as most people do, but I would never think of violating his personal space by any means. One of my favorite parts about seeing an artist live is watching them interact with all of the fans, and actions like this damage the possibility of those interactions.
In the video you can clearly see Harry push the fan away and walk away quickly. It is clearly something he did not want to happen, like most victims of sexual assault. This should be taken as a lesson that these things don’t only happen to women. Not to say that those cases aren’t important, but it is important that we all understand the fact that it can happen to anyone and everyone.
I hope that this can spark conversation on this topic because it is such a taboo topic, but also such a powerful one that needs to be addressed in a respectful manner.