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Photo | The Atlantic

How coverage of the Ansari story reflects and reinforces the normalization of sexual violence

When allegations of sexual assault against Aziz Ansari surfaced, dozens of articles were quick to respond not by denouncing Ansari, but by denouncing the #MeToo movement—characterizing it as a monstrous witch hunt. In the wake of the Ansari story, newspaper reporting of the #MeToo movement has begun a downward spiral.

When the #MeToo movement first started in mid-October 2017, it was an incredible breakthrough. Survivors now had a platform where they could share their stories and assailants were finally facing the consequences of their actions. While initial reporting was sympathetic and supportive, it was quickly replaced with backlash, even before the Ansari story broke. In a Globe and Mail article published less than a week after the hashtag surfaced, Margaret Wente was, unsurprisingly, vocal in her opinion of #MeToo. She encouraged women to “tone down the outrage,” assuring readers that the situation was “not that bad.”

In addition to the surge of negative reporting from right-wing newspapers, The New York Times surprisingly also added criticism. In late 2017, it published several opinion pieces levelling complaints against #MeToo. A November piece by Bari Weiss questioned the extent to which we can believe all women, while an opinion piece by Bret Stephens in December criticized the movement for not separating severe acts of violence from other “misdemeanours.” These articles appeared in the wake of allegations against “good guys” Matt Lauer, Al Franken, and Louis C.K.

Much of the reporting following the Ansari story has criticized the woman who accused Ansari of assault, who goes by the pseudonym Grace. Articles depict her as being shallow and weak, and as asking for attention. Buzzfeed published one of the few articles examining the Ansari story that celebrated Grace for coming forward. In the article, former prosecutor Moriah Silver pointed out that “most women are sharing their stories as part of a national conversation, [and] it makes no sense to apply a courtroom concept in such a fundamentally different setting.” Applying legal definitions to stories of sexual assault allows the system to define the parameters of what is and is not assault. Ultimately, we need to redefine how society understands sexual violence, to stop people from falling back on legal definitions as a justification for supporting aggressive behaviour.

Repeatedly, male actors—from Matt Damon, to Mark Wahlberg, to Liam Neeson—have argued that sexual violence exists on a “spectrum of behaviour,” where some instances of violence are permissible while others are not. Believing that sexual assault exists on a spectrum allows us to selectively invalidate and diminish the experiences of those who have faced so-called “lesser” forms of sexual violence. To quote from Aleida Assmann’s work on European memory studies, “to acknowledge one trauma must not mean to marginalize or even discard another.” The #MeToo movement has been criticized for calling out smaller instances of violence; this points to how deeply our society has internalized and normalized sexual violence. The fact that we are unable to recognize that these so-called minor acts are harmful is reflective of how permissible sexual violence has become.

The media is a powerful tool for the #MeToo movement in shaping how we view sexual violence. In the Ansari story, journalists should have re-directed the conversation from Ansari toward examining our culture. A conversation of this nature would be much more productive. Articles should shift the dialogue away from attacking the veracity of victims’ statements by instead addressing our deep-rooted culture of victim-blaming that normalizes minor forms of assault.

Some articles have done just this, such as Moriah Silver’s article in Buzzfeed and an article by Lili Loufbourow in The Week. These articles delve into societal problems; exploring why sexual assault is commonplace rather than sensationalizing individual stories. Despite these strengths, these articles are largely heteronormative, reflecting another blind spot in media discussions about sexual violence.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the LGBTQ community has a higher rate of sexual assault than their heterosexual counterparts, and even higher rates of cases that go unreported. A multitude of factors makes it harder for members of the LGBTQ community to report acts of sexual violence. A VICE article by Steven Blum outlined some of these reasons, ranging from police prejudice, to societal stigma, to a reluctance to associate fear with spaces that are supposed to be “liberating” when the aggressor is part of the community. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, 65% of trans individuals will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. While the majority of reporting frames issues of sexual violence as involving a man and a woman, we need to make room for stories from the LGBTQ community to be heard as well, recognizing that sexual assault manifests itself differently within the queer community.

At the end of the day, the media is both the key vehicle for the #MeToo movement and its biggest adversary. The media can give space to the marginalized voices, and it can confront the individuals who try to silence them. The media can and should do better. Survivor testimony should not be treated as celebrity gossip. The media can and should open up productive discussions about the systemic cultural problems of sexual violence—only then will change be enacted.

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