We all must
learn from the lessons of the past. Unfortunately, some important stories we
could learn from are not told loud enough or even at all. With this post, I
continue the popular series of inspirational stories to educate and empower.
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Shirley Temple in 1941 |
For the
entirety of her brief film career, Temple was forced to fight off sexual
predators, as she was regularly groped, threatened, and terrorized by men.
After she
rebuked one Hollywood producer for his advances, he responded, “Look, I’m going
to be a big executive. We’re going to have to get along... What I had in mind
was just a workplace formality.”
“It may
be in your contract, but not mine,” she replied.
“Sex is
like a glass of water,” the man she simply refers to as “Wizard” continued.
“You get thirsty, you drink. You want sex, you have it.”
Then
there was the beloved comedian George Jessel, who once invited her to his
office to “discuss a key role” in his upcoming film:
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Lift my skirt without permission, get a knee, that's how it worked in the golden era of Hollywood. |
Shirley reacted
swiftly, responsibly, and resolutely. I assume she had not attended any fancy
self defense course and despite that, she was able to handle the situation extremely well. It reminded me of another inspirational story from an actress, I already published some years ago.
As Shirley
said, the asshole deserved no sympathy. Hopefully, he learned his lesson; he
could feel lucky she did not use any other more brutal self defense techniques,
given his genitals were exposed and in the end did not lose any of his two precious
organs. Maybe I would go far with this comment, but I truly think if all young actresses were
told how to handle pushy horny men, we could have avoided all those tiring
Hollywood sex attack scandals and allegations. What an inspiring story from
such a wonderful woman….
P.S.
Some of you wrote me very interesting stories via email and I want to publish them all in this renewed series, just that I must find time to provide the necessary commentary. I ask you for patience.