If you may have heard, Rose McGowan has been the center of attention recently. When the Weinstein scandal broke, we were happy to see a face we haven’t seen in a while open up about the incident that broke her: the time in 1997 where he forced himself on her. McGowan is often known for her role of Paige in the series Charmed, but recently she became the face of a movement to take a stand for feminism.However, Rose’s actions throughout her Hollywood life state otherwise.
While we were very pleased to read on her narrative on Weinstein, we were very sad to hear her answer to a question back in 2011 when she was asked about director Victor Salva, a convicted child molester and child pornography maker. She said in an interview: “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 gentleman.” It seems like in McGowan’s head, it only happens if she was present. Even though there was evidence and an actual conviction, she still wouldn’t speak up about it.
She’s also been under fire for homophobic remarks. Some of her infamous comments include branding gay men as more misogynistic than straight men and stating gay people “fought for the right to wear speedos and take MDMA.”. Her most recent backlash happened when she criticized Caitlyn Jenner for her comment on the hardest thing about being a woman is picking out what you’re going to wear, a comment said by Jenner when she was named Woman of the Year. But, if there’s one that really just shocks you, it has to be when Rose held a party in support of a Brunei-owned Beverly Hills Hotel, despite a boycott over Brunei’s anti-gay laws, which prescribes death by stoning for same-sex activities.
Her true-self seems to come out every time she’s under the media’s eye. Her antics led on to even having a heated argument with Andi Dier during her book event. The exchange between herself and the began when it was questioned that McGowan did nothing for the trans community. It looked like they were just two immature children fighting over who was right, instead of just addressing the issues with respect.
“Don’t label me, sister. Don’t put your labels on me. Don’t you f****** do that. Do not put your labels on me. I don’t come from your planet. Leave me alone. I do not subscribe to your rules. I do not subscribe to your language. You will not put labels on me or anybody. Step the f*** back. What I do for the f****** world and you should be f****** grateful. Shut the f*** up. Get off my back. What have you done? I know what I’ve done, Goddammit.”
To make matters worse, after canceling her book events, McGowan pulled a Kevin Spacey and revealed that she was raped at age 15 by an Oscar winner. We believe all victims, but it saddens us to use a traumatic event as this one to dismiss her attitude towards the event in question. To not acknowledge her wrong behavior and instead just stating something out of the blue, really makes you wonder if she really cares about other movements and intersectional feminism.
The way Rose used her traumatic event to revive her career infuriates a vast majority of people in the world. It is amazing that you now have a platform where you get to address the issues that women go through, but she fails to realize that, even though she doesn’t want to be labeled as one, her actions have embodied the definition of a white feminist. White feminism, to put it shortly, is a brand of feminism centered around the ideals and struggles of primarily white women. While not outright exclusive, its failure to consider other women and its preoccupation with Western standards and the problems faced by the “average woman” are often alienating to women of color, queer women, trans women, and women belonging to religious or cultural minorities.
Rose, if you ever read this, there’s a time and place for everything. We admire you for taking a stand, but please don’t disregard others’ experiences because you haven’t lived their struggles.