Allegations Against Aziz Ansari: Why We Should Pay Attention
By AMANDA BRADLEY
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Throughout the past couple of months, influential men in Hollywood have been getting called out for sexual harassment on many counts, including Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. While they have been called out and ostracized by the media, as more claims arise, the less seriously they are taken.
Take the example of Aziz Ansari. Ansari’s reputation is of the nice guy, someone who respects women and is a feminist in his own right. He comes off as likable, and an ally for women’s rights. However, on November 13 of 2018, the website babe.net released an interview with a woman named “Grace,” her name changed for confidentiality, who discussed in vivid detail a date she has with Ansari that went horribly wrong.
According to Katie Way of babe.net, Grace met Ansari at a party, and later received his number; a few days later, they had scheduled a date. Way continued, at first, everything seemed fine to Grace, but things began to change when she went back to his home. She describes the upsetting account in detail, discussing how Ansari ignored her signals, pressured her into sexual activities, and was extremely rude and disrespectful, Way added. She left his apartment sobbing, confused by the two clashing personalities Ansari now had: his friendly media persona and his obnoxious, disrespectful manner.
Despite relaying her story, and the circulation of the article around the internet, people still have yet to take these claims seriously, claiming that the instance was “a bad date” and “not actionable,” Greg Evans of Deadline captures from an interview with Ashleigh Banfield, HLN anchor.
However, it is statements like these that are why so many instances of sexual assault are still occuring, as it normalizes these behaviors. Just because Ansari did not rape Grace does not mean that his actions are appropriate and non-violating. Grace, like many other women who have experienced this type of encounter, will carry this with her for the rest of her life, and will face many comments from people trying to take validation away from them.
Ansari’s actions can be described as sexual abuse, as Grace did not comply to consent on multiple occasions during that night.
A lesson that all can take away from this situation is that consent to one activity is not consent to another; communication is key. Grace’s story takes the spotlight because it involves a person of the media, but encounters like this happen to people all over. By supporting Grace’s story and combating all claims of sexual assault, maybe more people in these situations will see the erroneous nature of their behavior, and change for the better.
Works Cited
Evans, Greg. “Ashleigh Banfield Doubles Down On Aziz Ansari Accusations: ‘Sloppy & Reckless.’” Deadline, 19 Jan. 2018, deadline.com/2018/01/ashleigh-banfield-megyn-kelly-aziz-ansari-accuser-sloppy-reckless-1202262914/.
Way, Katie. “I Went on a Date with Aziz Ansari. It Turned into the Worst Night of My Life.” Babe, 15 Jan. 2018, babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355.