Sixty Seconds of Casual Sexism
There is a lot to be learned from Matt Lauer’s sophomoric and intrusive question and remarks in regards to the unfortunate Anne Hathaway incident. As Hathaway exited her car at a New York premiere of her latest movie, Les Miserables, a
photographergross-voyeur snapped a photo of her which caught her in a position that exposed her in a way that she was not asking for.
On Wednesday, December 12th, Matt Lauer on NBC’s the Today Show immediately opened up the interview mentioning the moment. Here is how Lauer decided to do this: “Good morning, nice to see you - Seen a lot of you lately.” Wow.
Lauer has no idea (or, at least, it sure seems this way) how even bringing this up in such a vile way may have affected Hathaway, how this might affect viewers watching at home, and it also shows incredible ignorance and lack of perspective and empathy. It also highlights how frivolously we treat these invasions of privacy and ourselves, and one another, in general. Oh, no biggie - I’m going to ask this question in the same way I would ask ‘what is your favorite ice cream flavor?’ He could (and should) have known, by the way, how she was feeling if he would have just read how Hathaway felt about it the night it happened. She was ‘devastated’, yet Mauer just had to “get it [the question] out of the way.”
He just HAD to, you know?
“What’s the lesson learned?”, asks Lauer not seconds later. Hmm…Well, I can tell you what I learned from it. I learned that our society continually and unquestionably blames victims and puts the onus of change, and explanation on them. I learned that every question, especially in front of a national audience, is fair game (especially if you are a woman) no matter what may come of it and no matter how you might feel.
What could Anne have done differently?
She should have been a man.
She should have worn something different even though she might not have wanted to. She should wear underwear at all times because you never know when a creepy man might take a photograph of you and then make bank off of it. She should appreciate the publicity and free p.r.. She should change how she functions entirely.
The real questions might be: Why don’t we question perpetrators instead of victims? Why don’t we ask “why do we allow this type of behavior?” Why do we place a monetary value on everything, especially each other?
Most disgustingly, Matt brought up the fact that Hathaway “keeps smiling, which you always do,” and this is, once again, instructive about our society. Women - you must smile even when you have been violated because, if you don’t smile and laugh it off, then we will all feel awkward and guilty for allowing, supporting, and making a living, off as Hathaway so perfectly stated: “a culture that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants.” What ever you do - don’t express anything other than joy, happiness, and passivity. Don’t be sad, angry, or disappointed. Just smile.
Lauer’s giddiness and comfortability in acting in such a way is completely disgusting, commonplace, and revealing. You can learn a lot about our culture in a one minute segment.A couple of final notes: It’s not a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ - what do you think happens when you get up from sitting in a car in a dress? What we really have is a malfunctioning culture. Finally, Hathaway’s response was amazing, courageous, and it was unfortunate that she even had to deal with it in that manner. Hats off to her for remaining civil and accommodating when she had every right not to be.
