At the forefront of everything going on recently are young women and girls. They were vulnerable because of their age or their class, and also because of power dynamics.
These women and girls went through something traumatising, all of them. As did all of the women and girls who I’m sure are coming forward now. Everyone knows there are other men who traumatised girls they’ve worked with, while being paid very, very large amounts of money.
In TV, the very thing that makes working in the industry amazing is also the thing that gives oxygen to misconduct and abusive behaviour. You come to work, “get your head down and get the job done”, which can mean all pulling together on a project and making it work. But that attitude has its dark side. It can mean keeping your head down so as not to see clearly what’s going on right in front of you.
The harmful actions of men were, and are, seen by the people around them. Once they see it, they either worry about it or they ignore it. What happened to the women and girls wasn’t done in secret. I think this is what the very national outcry is about – because it could have been called out, stopped, and women could have been prevented from being in dangerous situations with these men. Because of this culture, the answer to “Why did people do nothing?” is maybe: they didn’t know they were meant to do anything. Or perhaps that’s letting people off the hook?
In the past we told the girls that on some level they were to blame. Women are told to be careful and watch themselves. We had to work around men to feel safe. I asked a female comedian friend the other day: “Why do we get into comedy as women?” I realised it was the result of trauma and defensiveness. I spent years as a young person learning how to be funny to signal to older men who had no business approaching us that they weren’t welcome around me and my friends.
But things have moved on. I can feel it. I can see it in the thousands of messages I’m receiving. I was on Sky News and I said a fraction of the things I feel and the things I’ve heard. And I’ve been flooded with support because people felt something. They feel the same about these young women as I do and for a lot of women watching and reading, they’ve been in their shoes.
I’ve spoken to hundreds of women over the years who have suffered abuse, and then countless more over the past few days. And do you know why they come forward? To protect others. Women came forward, still hurt and confused and dealing with whatever life has thrown at them since then, but they told their truth. They’re heroes, and this is yet another article praising them.
People love telly. They’ve grown up with it in their living rooms. They want it to be a safe place because they want all institutions to be safe. And with telly, well, they decide what shows and channels they will give their time and attention to. They’re the audience. They cut off the oxygen and decide when to turn it on. These audiences are telling us that they want something different now. Things are changing.
Audiences want the truth, as uncomfortable as it can be. They want people keeping it real. Future telly makers take note.
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Lucy Beaumont is a comedian and author
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