Angela Lansbury is a living legend, a 92 year-old grand dame of film, television and theater. She is respected and adored around the world. She’s also probably kind of an a–hole. Just know that when I first read part of her quotes, I thought she was being really clever and sarcastic, but as it turns out, she’s not doing that at all. I can understand the inclination to want to believe that Lansbury is, like, a next-level MRA-trolling feminist. But that’s not the reality.
Women must accept some blame for sexual harassment and abuse because they “go out of their way to make themselves attractive” to men, Dame Angela Lansbury has said. While other Hollywood actresses have condemned the stories that have surfaced since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, Dame Angela offered a strikingly different take.
“There are two sides to this coin. We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive. And unfortunately it has backfired on us – and this is where we are today. We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that. Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped,” the 92-year-old told Radio Times.
She added that the fault does not lie with individual victims: “Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be. There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now – it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”
What the ever-loving sh-t, Dame Angela Lansbury? Women should not “own up” to trying to look attractive and thus, somehow, being responsible for our own victimization. Women can wear makeup, they can wear short skirts, they can wear sweatpants or not wash their hair, they can do the most or they can do the least and still be harassed, assaulted, raped or murdered by men. It actually has nothing to do with the perception of attractiveness and everything to do with rape culture, toxic masculinity and misogyny. Enough. Enough of both-side-ism. Enough with “well, look at your own behavior/clothes/alcohol intake” to victims. Enough.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Ugh, not her too.
Nooooooooooooooo!!! I used to like her 🙁
A quick Google image search reveals that she has indeed always dressed in potato sacks, has never shown cleavage and of course did not use hair and makeup to make herself look attractive. Right.
Why Angela Lansbury? WHY? How could you?!
Well, I totally disagree with her. I mean, UGH. I don’t wanna get into it. I just completely disagree.
During the revolution in Iran women were sold this idea that if they wore the burqas/abaayas/head and body coverings they would be harassed less and treated with greater respect. And yet women all over the world, even in countries where they walk around with full sheets over their bodies, are harassed. It’s almost like the behavior is independent of what we wear…
Yes, it’s almost like women aren’t the problem… You know, we might be on to something.
Great point. And yes, this particular woman is 92, but unfortunately there are even feminists- some of them about half her age- who subtly or overtly promote this idea that problems like abuse and sexual violence are a result of women being too attractive, feminine, or ‘sexually available’ (sometimes ‘easy’ is the word used) to men. Victim-blaming and internalized misogyny are definitely still a problem on the left. Nobody is immune.
One of the hypocritical things about it is that some of these same people are also so opposed to the idea of women wearing any sort of burqa or hijab, and claim to be so outraged by societal pressure some women have to wear those things. You want to ask these western people, “Why aren’t you happy to see your beliefs being followed to their natural conclusion? Should you not feel joy at the thought of women being encouraged to dress to ward off the male gaze, since that’s the path to creating better men and saving women, according to you?”
Cos she is from different era. She does not realize that her way of thinking is made up by males loooong time ago.
So everybody be unobtrusive and you won’t attract the “wrong” kind of attention
Go home Angela
#F*ckthat
How does that quote go, about how woman have it the worst because women and men both hate women but men have it the best, because women will protect their men and men will look out for each other? Seems to be incredibly true, from the aftermath of the sexual harassment news.
That is absolutely true. Any article on the internet that questions men’s behavior will have women defending men. Any questioning of women’s behavior and…silence from the menfolk. They back each other up, we tear each other down. Sad!
I’m just wondering who the men are in her life that she’s protecting. Because that comment sounded like she was getting in first to defend someone close to her who might be accused.
She’s talking out of both sides of her mouth here. We ask for it, but we don’t deserve it?? What?? Hush, great grandma.
I was harassed on a grocery store parking lot in sweats and no make-up. Tell me Dame Angela, what did I do wrong? Leave my house while female?
Natural beauty harasses creeps. Or something.
I’m trying to give her a pass because she’s 92, which means she’s been told all her prime time that sexual assault is connected to appearance and she probably can’t get that out of her system. It’s only been a decade or even less when people are really starting to get that it’s about power, not attraction.
This is what I’m hearing from her: historically, women have always traded on their beauty and have always tried to make themselves look as attractive as possible to men so that they could get the husband, get the job, be protected, fill in the blank… This has led men to think of us as being here only for their pleasure and seeing us as objects. Therefore, they rape and assault us. The problem is not necessarily with the individual victim, but with the whole feminine ideal we have built up for ourselves over the centuries. I hope she is also trying to say that it is no longer acceptable for men to view us like this and it is never okay to rape or assault women, and that she is more making an “if, then” analysis. But even if she is, it doesn’t make sense to hold the women of the current generation responsible for the actions of all the past women. It also doesn’t take any account of the fact that women had to trade on and emphasize their beauty and attractiveness in order to survive in a patriarchal world. It’s a stupid argument she’s trying to make.
Another idol falls.
No not her too…
Like an arrow through the heart.
She’s 92. It’s not a good quote at all – but at the same time, she clearly tried to clean it up at the end. For a 92 year old who grew up in a VERY different era, I was expecting a lot worse, to be honest. There’s obviously a disconnect here – and it’s not something she should have said (or thought) but she does also say she doesn’t think an individual should be blamed for their attack – nor should women have to be prepared to be preyed on – those two points are good points, so I’m really not sure what kind of mess came out of her mouth at the start.
And I think I’m a little protective of her because I’ve always adored the woman, and she’s the same age as my gram. So I don’t know.
I’m in the same place. She’s 92. She’s been in the cesspit of Hollywood almost all of her life and if Weinstein and #metoo hasn’t shown us how impossible and mind-warping that is for any women in it, what on earth will?
That’s 70-odd years of being told this shite by powerful men and knowing if you don’t go along with it you’ll be punished, threatened, shut out of work. It’s been drilled into her for almost a century. She has said an ignorant thing here and I do think we should criticise it. But I don’t think it merits any level of cancellation outrage.
It is generational. I heard this most of my life. From men AND women.
^^^^ Everything Erinn & Sixer said ^^^^
While her comment is indeed problematic, she’s 92 and I have no doubt that internal misogyny was ingrained in her many, many, maaaannnnny decades ago.
It is hard, Sixer. My husband and I adore this woman. I am, of course, old myself and very sentimental and over the top about celebrities I like. [ As my short comment above indicates] So, bad comment, disappointment. I will leave it there.
I mean, if your psyche and perspective hasn’t been damaged after spending 70+ years in Hollywood as a woman, you’d be impossibly perfect, wouldn’t you?
I challenge what she says as I would if anyone said it, but I’m not going to get angry that SHE said it, you know?
One of my all time favorite movies as a kid was National Velvet. It was Angela’s second movie role, it came out in 1944. Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney… it was one of those movies I’d watch when I was home sick from school. I desperately wanted a horse (thank god my parents never gave in) and I just adored the movie. Angela Lansbury was absolutely stunning. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (my husband told me the other day that he’s never seen this, and it horrified me), Beauty and the Beast, Murder She Wrote. All things I loved growing up.
It sucks when you grow up watching a celebrity act in so many of your favorite things, and then find out later all the crap things they’ve done or said. I don’t agree with her – nor do I think she should be given a complete pass. But I think – like you said Sixer – when you grow up during that kind of era, and in Hollywood, there’s a certain amount of f—ed up that you’re going to be. I also tend to think that that way of thinking is sort of a weird form of protection. People who have gone through life in a hard industry who maybe haven’t been literally assaulted probably try to convince themselves it’s because of something they’ve done. It gives them a sense of control over something that they have absolutely no control over, and thus makes them feel safe.
Yup. I agree. This is a woman who once said in an interview that she does not get dressed or undressed in front of her husband because it’s good to maintain a little mystery. So clearly, her views on relations between the sexes is steeped in the misogynistic f-ckery she’s been taught and subject to all her life.
i mean, i’m not cancelling her because like you say she’s 92. but i’m also not gonna listen to her, and i truly believe she should be the one to listen to younger women about this sort of stuff.
I agree with the disconnect. I think she is looking at the issue as a whole for humanity and is saying that some women want attention and some men give attention and a select portion of them force it. She went on to say this isn’t the fault of women specifically but more or less the state of nature. And she’s not wrong in that sense. Sexual assault will ALWAYS exist, it’s part of human nature. But… as I said on another post the other week…. in regards to who I think was Brian Cranston… personal philosophy applied to case studies of specific people ALWAYS misses the mark. Always. I get that celebrities are directly being asked their thoughts so I can’t fault them from taking it to this “out to lunch” level of disconnect… but fack. I wish someone would realise that philosophy applied to legitimate, real, horrific experiences will always come off cold. Perhaps a little: “my heart is with the victims” and that’s it is enough.
I just had a lady in my office tell me that the department chair who interviewed my friends was justified in staring at her chest the entire time. Her first reaction when I told her this was, well if a woman is dressing to ask for attention, its not his fault he gave it to her.
no amount of gentle arguing was going to sway her from this, because sometimes she can’t help but look, so how could the poor mens. smh
I think internalized misogyny is the only way to explain this. *sigh* Y’all all covered it well.
At least her dangerous beliefs will be criticized just as much as they’re defended. Or at least almost as much.
I’m guessing #hertoo, but this kind of thinking is not uncommon among women her age.
Sure, because we exist. All our fault.
dress pretty, but not too pretty. don’t go overboard with the makeup, but you’d look better with a little bit of it. don’t be too nice, but don’t be a b*tch. smile.
the crazy part is that if women followed her non-grooming advice they’d be labelled manhating feminazis, or asked if they were lesbians.
When i decided i didn’t want attention, at all, and stopped wearing makeup and dressing up, certain women and men made a point of telling me how much more they valued people who put effort into their appearance. but they loved the guy who wore the same pants every day.
Wow ladies you better cover those ankles, wrists, and neckline! Angela is launching a line of Victorian anti rape gowns. Hey Ang, women were raped back then too! Aaargh!
She’s wrong, but she’s also from a time in which women were told they needed to look pretty so men would be attracted to them and they could find a good husband. Especially living in the middle of the entertainment industry mentality. I think her comments need to be taken as the example of the mentality we are now trying to dissolve, but I can’t blame a 92 year old woman for just expressing his views on her long time experience with this. Plus, she does make clear later than victims should not be blamed, it was a very poor choice of words.
Sorry to say this, but I think this is to do with her age.
When I was 18 I distinctly remember being catcalled by some idiot driving by in a car as I was walking to college. I was wearing; baggy combats (fashionable ones), baggy t-shirt, baggy denim jacket, cap and no make up at all. So I was not asking for that kind of attention whatsoever.
How much pressure is on women to be pretty? Then when some are perceived as such they’re criticized for ‘asking for it?’. Women just can’t win
We need to talk about some of the aged people now. I hate to say it, but I think a lot of them are having some issues with dementia and reasoning, including Donald Trump. I think she might be having an issue too. John Conyers apparently went to a formal dinner dressed in pjs and incoherent, and most of these accusations for him are when he was past 70. John McClain, before he was diagnosed with brain cancer, had a totally incoherent questioning of James Comey. Pres. George H.W. Bush is telling bad jokes and pinching women in his late 80’s. Just listen to Trump’s earlier interview 80’s & 90’s he sounds so different now. Sure he was a racist creepy pig then too, but he was far more coherent. I think of my father and he started believing in all this crazy conspiracy theories in his 70’s, and you would have never got him to think that was even remotely possible in his prime. I’m not saying we should totally dismiss older people’s actions or their words, but we do need to put it in context a bit. I know there are plenty of older people who are mentally fit and fine, but not all or even most.
The thing I find interesting about this comment is it is sort of like something my mother used to say, but Angela took it to crazy land. My mother didn’t like that women in society felt like they had to dress in a way to please men, but rather they should do it for themselves, and why don’t men feel the same pressure to dress to please a woman. Aside from the world being over sexualized she thought it was all geared to the men and not women either.
Let’s be real and fair. She does come from another siecle. I bet many of our grandmothers/grandfathers -someday at least- have said some racist, sexist, derogatory stuff about other human being. I am not saying it is right, just the way they were raised and their “nomarlity”. We can focus on the latest generations.
Time to put that stupid old coot out to pasture. Disgusted.
Age is not an excuse unless it’s tied to mental deterioration, which is not the case here. It doesn’t excuse George Bush’s groping or Angela Lansbury’s victim-blaming comments.
Seriously!
She’s 92 so there’s no learning or evolving?
GTFO Angela.
The biggest misconception is that abuse and “attractiveness” go hand-in-hand.
I made that same mistake when I was younger, thinking in my naivete that because I wasn’t tall, statuesque or a super model that abusers would have no interest in me.
I was young and very wrong.
If you read her entire statement she contradicts her most misguided statements and speaks with more intelligence and compassion.
The woman is 92 and in her 60+ year career is known for treating people with great kindness and respect. We can’t be blind to the fact that her generation of women was raised to think anything that happened to a woman was “her fault.”
Not excusing – just remember the need for context.
In all honesty, I didn’t think she was still alive. My bad. I agree that she views things a lot differently due to her age, and that women did not speak up about harassment back then. And for the record, I dress up, do my hair, and wear make-up for my own damn confidence and self esteem, not for some man.
et tu, Angela?
“Ugly” women get raped too Angela. It has nothing to do with age, lack of clothing, attractiveness or skin color. Ugh…I just can’t with these ignorant people.
I am not a beautiful sexy woman. I am average looking and my work clothes are BORING and masculine looking and still I get harassed and I have been harassed horribly in the past. Sometimes I put dark lipstick on and I get comments or compliments because it really suits me but no I haven’t been harassed because I looked good. Also when I was a little girl I was really small, for some time I looked like an embryo (till age 5) because I had a big head and a small body and a big grown ass man tried to rape me in winter, you could only see my eyes from the amount of clothing I was wearing.
Truth be told when a woman gets all dressed up she gets noticed more and can attract more people around her and yes some may be dangerous but the statistics don’t lie. There are a lot more woman attacked and raped in the dark from behind by an unknown man so nothing to do with looks at all.
What I have learned from my experience is to always be in control of myself, never let my guard down, have a good support system and if my guts tells me it’s wrong IT IS WRONG. I know that we should put the blame on the attackers and ask for better education for our boys but till then we should take care of ourself and each other because it is a nasty world out there. Ah and also not blaming the victims. Nobody wants to be violated in any way, wearing a skirt it’s not an open invitation. Even the BDSM people have norms and rules when it comes to playing.
She’s really old. Maybe that affects how she speaks…