Rose McGowan gave a motivating speech at the Women’s Convention in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday. McGowan spoke out publicly for the first time in the history of sexual harassment, and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood earlier this month. Since then, dozens of actresses have come forward with similar stories about the Hollywood producer.
McGowan started off by thanking all of the powerful women speaking out, because as she explains, “we are all me too.”
“I have been silenced for 20 years,” McGowan continued,”I have been slut-shamed, I have been harassed, I have been maligned, and you know what, I’m just like you. Because what happened to me, happens to all of us in society, and it cannot stand.”
McGowan’s speech became especially impassioned when she declared, “I came to be a voice for all of us who are told we are nothing. For all of us who have been looked down on. For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherf*cking pussy.”
McGowan continued by calling out Hollywood’s role in treating women. “It is the mirror you’re given to look into. This is what you are as a woman. This is what you are as a man. This is what you are as a boy, girl, gay, straight, transgender,” she said. “But it’s all told through 96 percent males in the Director’s Guild of America. That statistic has not changed since 1946, so we are given one view, and I know the men behind that view. And they should not be in your mind, and they should not be in mine. It’s time to clean house.”
McGowan is not the only woman speaking out. Mika Brzezinski explained early Friday morning the momentum shift and how sexual harassment in America is undergoing a significant transformation. “We are at a pivotal moment in history where unacceptable harassing behavior towards women will no longer be swept under the rug,” Mika explained.
You can watch the full speech above.