New York – Orthodox Jewish Actress Slammed For Advocating Modesty In Response To Weinstein Allegations

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    FILE -  Mayim BialikNew York – Actress Mayim Bialik has drawn criticism for an op-ed she wrote for The New York Times in response to the allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

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    In her essay Saturday, Bialik wrote that she was “shocked and disgusted” by the accusations, which have been made by more than 30 women and partially denied by Weinstein’s representative. However, she said, she was not surprised.

    Bialik, 41, described the insecurities she felt growing up in show business as a “prominent-nosed, awkward, geeky, Jewish 11-year-old.” She criticized Hollywood as “an industry that profits on the exploitation of women — and not just on screen.”

    “I quickly learned even as a preteen actress that young girls with doe eyes and pouty lips who spoke in a high register were favored for roles by the powerful men who made those decisions,” she wrote. ”

    Bialik, a star of the hit CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” in which she portrays nerdy neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler, said that under the influence of her immigrant Jewish parents, she has long made decisions that she considers “self-protecting and wise.” Long a public proponent of modesty, she outlined her rules for behavior and dress.

    “I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with,” she wrote. “I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy.”

    Bialik, who is Orthodox Jewish and the divorced mother of two young sons, said that while “absolutely nothing” excuses men’s sexual assault or abuse of women, “we can’t be naive about the culture we live in.” She noted that she took a long break from Hollywood to get a doctorate in neuroscience and admonished young women that “having others celebrate your physical beauty is not the way to lead a meaningful life.”

    Critics quickly accused Bialik of suggesting that dressing and acting modestly is protection against the kind of behavior Weinstein is accused of.

    Mashable Internet reporter Chloe Bryan said that Bialik was insinuating that she had evaded harm because of her choices, and that this was “irresponsible and dangerous.”

    “Contrary to Bialik’s implications, it’s not just ‘doe-eyed’ women with personal trainers who experience harassment,” she wrote Sunday. “It’s all of us.”

    Social media users echoed the sentiment.

    Also Sunday, Bialik posted a Facebook message saying some people had taken her words “out of context” and “twisted them to imply that God forbid I would blame a woman for her assault based on her clothing and behavior.” She called that conclusion “absurd” and said “it’s sad how vicious people are being when I basically live to make things better for women.”

    But even self-described fans commented that Bialik should rethink her position.

    “I still love you, but as a child molestation survivor with PTSD I can not take your words for any other way than the way they made me feel…disappointed,” wrote one woman.

    “You need to take an honest read of what you wrote and commit to some serious introspection, if you think that wasn’t victim-blaming,” wrote another. “Very disappointing.”

    One of Bialik’s few defenders commented, “Mayim that was a very brilliant and powerful piece! Those who are taking it out of context either didn’t read or are not being intellectual enough to allow an objective analysis. My question to them is, do they lock their doors? No thief has a justification to deprive others of their property simply because they left their door unlocked, but that doesn’t make it reasonable to leave one’s door unlocked.”

    Bialik said in her Facebook post that she would be appear in a live Facebook video for The New York Times Monday morning — “lets discuss it then.”


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    17 Comments
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    6 years ago

    Typical feminism and political correctness. Someone spoke truth and morality, and these intellectual midgets are obsessed with criticism. None of these bird brains will listen either. They are addicted to the victim mentality, and they are unfortunately a major driving force of the electorate that keeps returning these mentally handicapped biological accidents to public office.

    md2205
    md2205
    6 years ago

    She was brave and opened up a very needed discussion. In Judaism, there are two aspects: One is the personal responsibility of the perpetrator, but one is also creating a certain social environment by dressing and acting in a modest way. Chloe Bryan said it is all women who experience harassment, which is true, but women can do their part to prevent some of it by creating an environment in which they finally recognize and do not participate in the exploitation of their own selves. Dressing in a non-provocative way and acting with members of the opposite gender with appropriate behavior and restraint would create a new environment in which the members of the opposite gender would feel they cannot go “too far” and they might show some restraint themselves. The problem is that these days, in show biz it would not attract many viewers.

    Lieba
    Lieba
    6 years ago

    You may not like it, but the way you dress , talk, and act is signaling men that you are willing to have some fun with them.
    Cover up, don’t speak with lewdness and sensuality, and you’ll be a lot safer.
    Don’t look for trouble!!

    grandbear
    grandbear
    6 years ago

    I see that today the young girls-women dress most provocatively, more that what has been the norm in days gone by.They go out on the streets of this city in clothing that was prohibited on the beach previously .The men for the most part dress in business suits in the fashion, but the females are in shorty shorts with skimpy tops.Look at photos of dress from as late as 1940s to see the huge difference.

    TrumpIsPrez
    TrumpIsPrez
    6 years ago

    There is a line, and it’s not even a fine line, between advocating for modesty and victim blaming.

    yosher
    yosher
    6 years ago

    There are many men turned on to the very modestly dressed and well covered woman. It is intriguing. A man’s misbehavior is just that.,,misbehavior. Misbehaving men do it because they can and get away with it. Women dressing exceptionally modestly is a Chassidic and Muslim belief that seems to fail regularly. Men need to behave and this blame the attractive girl (she’s a tease and is inviting….) is for Hillary, not for decent folk.

    6 years ago

    One thing NOTHING has been spoken about is YICHUD.Putting yourself in a place for sexual acts can happen. Weinstein is a Jew but in name only.. How many of the Hollywood tenant, producers or directors who are Jews know Jewish Law. A man should not seclude him man self with a woman for something to happen and that begins for being with a girl age 3

    6 years ago

    Regarding that sexual pervert Weinstein, I can’t believe that hypocritical channel, Fox News, which is now taking shots at Weinstein. Fox had several perverts on its payroll, including Bill O’Reilly. Yet, Fox covered up his egregious conduct, as well as the perverted conduct of others for years, even when they knew about it. In fact, the head of Fox, Rupert Murdoch, in early 2017, offered that sexual pervert O’Reilly, a contract extension,knowing of his sordid past. It wasn’t until a story broke in the media, that O’Reilly had dozens of sexual harassment lawsuits filed against him, that Murdoch was forced to get rid of O’Reilly. However, O’Reilly received a 25 million dollar buyout. Also, Fox recently gave O’Reilly advertising time to promote his new book, about the American Revolution. In addition, that hypocrite, Sean Hannity, even brought O’Reilly on his show, for an interview. In spite of that pervert’s sordid past, O’Reilly was interviewed on Fox, in an effort to compete with the ratings of MSNBC. Incidentally, O’Reilly’s new book,mentions nothing about Chaim Solomon, and how he helped George Washington financially, during the American Revolution.