Actress Jacqueline Bisset is sharing her candid opinion about the #MeToo movement.
“I understand as an idea, it’s important that men behave, but I do really think it’s important that women behave, too,” Bisset told Page Six in an interview published on Saturday, February 1. “I think how you dress, what your subtext is very, very important. It’s very dangerous and not to be played with.”
She went on to say that she believes the idea women are never to blame for harassment or sexual assault can only fly if “you don’t know anything about men,” adding that she’s “very unsympathetic to these stories, these #MeToo things”
“You have to be very careful what you put out [there],” Bisset added “[Women] need to learn the word ‘no’ or the F-word or something and you have to do it and you can get through it without any problem.”
The #MeToo movement went viral in 2017 after several actresses and female employees accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and abuse, prompting girls and women across the glob to share their own stories of sexual harassment, assault and abuse. The movement has been on the receiving end of a variety of responses in the years that have followed, with some embracing the changes #MeToo ushered in while others, like Bisset, dispute its basic premise.
In 2018 Charmed star Rose McGowan spoke against the movement. In an interview with The Sunday Times she explained, “It’s all bulls–t. It’s a lie. It’s a Band-Aid lie to make them feel better. I know these people, I know they’re lily-livered, and as long as it looks good on the surface, to them, that’s enough. They’re not champions. I just think they’re losers.”
McGowan’s statements came a year after she levied her own accusations against Weinstein.
The following year, Game of Thrones star Carise Van Houten told Deadline that the movement contributed to a decrease in nude scenes on the series — something she considered to be a positive. “It also showed that you don’t need it,” Houten explained.
“In Black Book I experienced nudity on set. The Dutch are quite open-minded, we’re a bit easier with that,” she added. “But it’s never comfortable being the only one undressed on set. It was before I had a child. I would be more uncomfortable now. The times have changed in many ways. Back then, it was all a little overwhelming.” told
“No one forced me into anything, but in hindsight I might have been a little more cautious with it,” Houten concluded.
Weinstein’s undoing was prompted by an exposé published by the New York Times that exposed over three decades of claims of misconduct against the producer. He was ultimately arrested and charged with rape and is currently imprisoned at Rikers Island.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org
