Natalie Portman is ready to Make America Gay Again
Natalie Portman donned a ‘Make America Gay Again’ hat for a Women’s March – as she declared that Time’s Up for sex abusers.
The actress took part in the Women’s March in LA on Saturday, speaking about her own experiences in the industry.
Portman, who became famous as a teen, spoke about a local radio station counting down to her 18th birthday – to “celebrate” when she would become “legal to sleep with”.
The actress added that her first fan letter at 13 was a “rape fantasy”.
Eva Longoria, Constance Wu and Natalie Portman attend Women’s March Los Angeles 2018 on January 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images)
She added that the intense sexualisation from an early age led her to shun works that included sex scenes or even intimate kissing.
She added: “I understood very quickly even as a 13-year-old, if I were to express myself sexually, that I would feel unsafe, and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body, to my great discomfort. So I quickly adjusted my behavior.
“I rejected any role that even had a kissing scene, and talked about that choice deliberately in interviews. I emphasized how bookish I was and how serious I was, and I cultivated an elegant way of dressing. I built a reputation for basically being prudish, conservative, nerdy, serious in an attempt to feel that my body was safe and my voice would be listened to.
Eva Longoria, Constance Wu and Natalie Portman speak to the 500,000 strong crowd during the Women’s Rally on the one-year anniversary of the first Women’s March, when millions marched around the world to protest US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, in Los Angeles, California on January 20, 2018. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
“The message from our culture was clear to me. I felt the need to cover my body and inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world, that I’m someone worthy of safety and respect.
“The response to my expression, from small comments about my body to more threatening deliberate statements, served to control my behaviour through an environment of sexual terrorism.
“A world in which I could wear whatever I want, say whatever I want and express my desire however I want without fearing for my physical safety or reputation, that would be the world in which female desire and sexuality could have its greatest expression and fulfillment. That world that we want to build is the opposite of puritanical.”
Actors Eva Longoria, Constance Wu and Natalie Portman speak during the Women’s March Los Angeles 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
Portman added: “I’d like to propose one way to continue moving this revolution forward. Let’s declare loud and clear that this is what I want. This is what I need. This is what I desire. This is how you can help me achieve pleasure.
“To people of all genders here today, let’s find a space where we mutually, consensually, look out for each other’s pleasure, and allow the vast, limitless range of desire to be expressed. Let’s make a revolution of desire.”
Taking to Instagram, she posted a selfie in a Make America Gay Again hat – as well as a snippet from the Time’s Up letter.
It says: “We seek equal representation, opportunities, benefits and pay for all women workers, not to mention greater representation of women of colour, immigrant women, and lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, whose experiences in the workforce are significantly worse than their white, cisgender, straight peers.”
The Human Rights Campaign, which sells the hats to raise money to fight for LGBT equality, wrote: “Who else is ready to Make America Gay Again? Thanks Natalie Portman for showing your support for @HRC at #WomensMarch2018!”
Will & Grace star Debra Messing, another leader of the Time’s Up movement, led a chorus of Make America Gay Again last year.
