On Sunday, the New York Times revealed that Asia Argento, one of the leaders of the #MeToo movement, paid her own accuser hundreds of thousands of dollars, beginning in April. This is a terrible revelation, including for the millions of survivors who include themselves in the broad coalition Argento helped birth. Some feminists have been quick to dismiss the reporting, simply circulating an excerpt from a letter Argento’s lawyer wrote to her: “You are a powerful and inspiring creator and it is a miserable condition of life that you live among [lousy] individuals who’ve preyed on both your strengths and your weaknesses.” This may be true. But to engage that excerpt without engaging the broader story is cheap and small. It shows an inability to confront information that challenges our worldview; that is the precise work we ask from those who do not appreciate the ways in which sexual violence is built into our society.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 22, 2018 15:33 UTC