The Myth of the Perfect Victim
Blake Lively, Gisèle Pelicot, and the Equal Rights Amendment
In the last couple weeks, pop culture headlines everywhere have focused on the ‘bombshell’ legal complaint that Blake Lively filed against her It Ends With Us co-star, and film director, Justin Baldoni. This complaint and the ensuing headlines came only a few days after French courts ruled on a the horrific rape trial of Gisèle Pelicot. And, it’s worth noting that as these things are going on in the world and pop culture, in national news, women’s rights activists and groups are trying to get President Biden’s attention in hopes of urging him to have the Equal Rights Act enshrined to the Constitution in the 28th Amendment as his parting gift to the country.
It seems anything but coincidental that these things are happening simultaneously. But then again, Biden has had the past 4 years to do so and has chosen not to. Despite having the required 75% of states on board, the amendment sits in the archives without being signed into law. This constitutional law would guarantee sex-based equality. It’s an important right to have at this time in our country.
And yet, my hope of President Biden coming through and calling for the enshrinement of the 28th amendment is dwindling because of the response to Gisèle Pelicot and Blake Lively.
Why? Because at the end of the day, even the loudest voices decrying abuse of women, either fail to act, are performative, or care to put efforts behind their words. And now, even when we have the “perfect” victims to demonstrate the inequality that is still thrust upon women due to their sex, the world still finds ways to “yeah, but…”
Gisèle Pelicot’s story is horrific. Part of what made her experiences so horrific is also what made her case so air tight. Videos were taken of the acts of sexualized violence being committed. To this end, over 50 men, including her husband, were charged for sexual crimes. And yet, despite the mountains of evidence–perhaps more than any other sexual crimes case before, there are still people that found fault with Gisèle. There were still people who doubted her, criticized the way she acted, and placed blame on her for not acting in a way that they believed she should have.
What her case showed, what Blake Lively’s case (which I’ll talk about more momentarily) bolstered, and what President Biden’s hesitancy to move the ERA toward being enshrined in the constitution is: we really don’t like, believe, or trust women.