HELEN MIRREN SPEAKS HER MIND
I have no problem with controversy. Sometimes it’s totally necessary to bring the point home. Otherwise people may not even stop to consider it.
One of my long time idols is DAME HELEN MIRREN.
I adore her for many reasons. She’s great looking, very talented and incredibly sexy. Much more so, I think, than many women half her age. I find her tremendously inspiring.
She talked openly during the late summer about the fact that she had been date raped twice. I wrote about it here
I am effectively slotting this particular post under the category FEMINISM. Though I may be making a statement that is somewhat contradictory to those ends.
So be it. Considering it is the truth…
I’ve been immersed in the JAMES BOND stuff onsite and didn’t jump on this when it was fresh out of the gate. But Ms. Mirren has taken some considerable heat for these new remarks (especially in Britain) and I just wanted to defend her.
I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks. I believe that Helen is dead right.
Approximately a week ago, there was an article in LONDON’S DAILY MAIL that discussed this matter in full.
“DAME HELEN MIRREN was accused by the Solicitor General of making ignorant, absurd and dangerous comments after speaking out about rape prosecutors.
The OSCAR winning actor said that in such cases female jurors are deliberately selected by defence barristers because ‘women go against women’.
She suggested that women jurors are less likely to convict a rapist since they tend to think the victim was ‘asking for it’.
Her comments horrified SOLICITOR GENERAL VERA BAIRD.
She said Dame Helen had made false assumptions about how juries are selected.
Interviewed by THE SUNDAY TIMES, Ms. Mirren said that, in a rape case, the defence team ‘would select as many women as they could for the jury – because women go against women. Whether in a deep seated animalistic way, going back billions of years, or from a sense of tribal jealousy or just antagonism.
But other women on a rape case would say she was asking for it. The only reason I can think of is that they’re sexually jealous.’
Dame Helen had previously stated that she was date raped herself twice when she was young and didn’t report the attacks because ‘You couldn’t do that in those days.’
Vera Baird pointed out that juries are selected at random and neither defence nor prosecution has the power to hand pick a jury based on their suitability for the trial.
She responded: ‘This is such an ignorant thing to say – to suggest that the defence or the prosecution have any involvement in the selection of a jury. It’s just absurd. It shows an absolute lack of knowledge about the way the criminal justice system works.
I do not know what she is talking about – women hating women…‘ “
Well, I imagine that Ms. Baird has been living under a very large rock most of her life.
When I returned to the SUNDAY TIMES to see the original article, I found this:
“KRISTY BRIMELOW, a barrister who has defended many men accused of rape, said female dominated juries were often harsher on a woman, particularly if she had been drunk or the man was an acquaintance or former boyfriend.
‘I would reassure a defendant who was worried that there were a preponderance of women on the jury,’ said Ms. Brimelow. ‘They may take against the woman instead of him.’ “
Helen knows exactly what’s going on out there.
Are there are evil, amoral or just plain nasty people represented by both sexes? ABSOLUTELY.
Are there decent, compassionate, supportive women who are helpful to other females? Yes, there are. Definitely.
But they’re also in the minority.
Helen, being the glorious force of nature that she is, would be on the receiving end of some horrible treatment from other women.
I understand this completely because I’ve been there myself. Ever since I was 14.
There are men that are liars. But women are much better manipulators than guys will ever be. If another woman wants to dig a hole for you, it can be done quite easily.
Women become threatened or annoyed at the drop of a hat. They are also capable of jealousy to the point of viciousness.
If you are perceived to be glamourous, better looking, sexier, have an exciting social life or be more appealing to men (I could go on but the list is longer than my arm…), then the knives come out. The majority of women would never want another woman to be as (or more) successful than they are. Catty, bitchy females and their insecurities run rampant over everything.
If a man ever gets into the middle of one of these tortured scenarios, then everything really hits the fan.
The sad truth is that many women don’t like other women. There are easily more female misogynists than males. People that don’t understand these dynamics have never lived through it or they’re very naive.
The women in my life who I’ve bonded with over the years don’t see me as a threat. They’re secure enough (many of them are gorgeous) that it’s not even an issue for them.
The bad experiences I’ve had with the opposite sex have been extremely rare. Men have always been supportive and tremendously kind to me. Were these men attracted to me or romantically interested in me?
Sometimes. I’ll admit that.
However, they were often committed elsewhere or much older. They just thought that I deserved recognition or consideration because they liked the work that I did.
But don’t ever tell me that sisterhood is powerful.
Not on your bloody life…
