This is a story that was created in the midst of the #metoo movement. The idea that there are an undetermined amount of people who have been sexually assaulted in their lives by people in power positions but have never been able to speak up. In this story a young woman recounts her desire to be an actress. Her and her mother move to New York at sixteen and she begins auditioning and sometimes auditioning alone. It is at one of these audition that she is sexually assaulted by the director and as time passes it is not the last but rather becomes the norm. She shares her shame and the silence that she decided to live in for many years until the movement began. Then she finally found the courage to post “#metoo” on her social media. And while it created a storm of emotions for her parents, for her it was about accepting that it had happened and standing up to the fact that she would never allow it to happen again. It takes a strong person to live through something and come out on the other side stronger and willing to share their story to help others.
Speak, We Will Listen
I have quite the personality. When I was three my mother took me to a theater school and before we walked in, she leaned over to me and said, “When they ask you how old you are tell them you are five.” At three I thought it was a game and was waiting for them to ask me how old I was so that I could get the answer right and make my mother proud. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized I never stopped talking and my mother figured the best place for me to express myself would be on the stage. I absolutely loved it. I loved everything about it. The older I got the more classes I would take, the more committed I was to being an actress. Who would’ve thought that my inability to just shut up as a child would be what has me in counseling twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from five to six with Dr. Wilson? It’s amazing the origins of the events that change our lives.