In just a few sentences Woody Allen managed to cover a lot of misogynistic ground.
He reinforced harmful narratives around what does, and doesn’t, ‘count’ as sexual assault. A common lie victims are told is that rape only happens in dark alleys by strangers. When, in fact, 6 in 7 rapes against women are carried out by someone they know and 1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner. “She was a friend” is not the defence Allen thinks it is, and it certainly doesn’t mean the kiss was harmless.
Then there’s how Allen downplayed what happened, a common and well-worn tactic patriarchal society uses to delegitimise women’s claims. We’re told being groped is just ‘a bit of fun’; that unwanted sexual advances are ‘flirting’ or ‘banter’; that cat calls are a compliment; that it’s just a kiss, just a hug, just a misunderstanding. Just just just just just just.
He even managed to get in the adage that accusations of sexual harassment/assault are somehow worse than the actual assault. Women who come forward are often condemned for ‘ruining’ a man’s career or reputation, as if they did not ruin it themselves with their behaviour. Notice how Allen does not mention Hermoso’s career; how her part in winning the World Cup will always be stained by this or that Rubiales ruined one of the most important moments in her football career. Instead, he focuses on and centres the man, gives him sympathy and not the victims.
I wouldn’t expect much less from a man who has longstanding sexual abuse allegations against him, from his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow (which her mother and Allen’s former partner, Mia Farrow, corroborates). The same man who married and has had two children with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow. At the time their relationship publicly began, Allen was 56 and Previn was 21.
Dylan first raised the allegations in 1992, the claims were investigated at the time but a Connecticut prosecutor decided not to pursue charges because Dylan, who was seven at the time, was too “fragile” to withstand a trial. In his 33-page decision on the case, Judge Wilk found that Allen’s behaviour toward Dylan was “grossly inappropriate and that measures must be taken to protect her.” Allen has always denied the charges, and has never been charged with a crime in this case.
There is an unspoken kinship amongst men who abuse women. The way Allen leapt to Rubiales defence says a lot indeed.