Actress Ellen Page chimed into the long, ongoing conversation about sexual assault in Hollywood on Friday afternoon with a long Facebook post that included her own experiences and an analysis of industry sexism.
Page begins her post by recounting an instance in which X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner suggested another woman have sex with Page in order to help her find out she is gay.
“I felt violated when this happened,” Page wrote. “I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He ‘outed’ me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her ‘flappy pussy.’”
Describing misogynistic behavior as “ubiquitous” in Hollywood, Page wrote: “They (abusers), want you to feel small, to make you insecure, to make you feel like you are indebted to them, or that your actions are to blame for their unwelcome advances.”
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In the post, which you can read below, Page also talks about the way marginalized women are disproportionately impacted by sexual violence, why she regrets working with director Woody Allen and violence against transgender women of color.