“Fake news” is everywhere these days, as is the veritable onslaught of women (and some men) coming out with stories of major Hollywood figures who allegedly sexually harassed them, sometimes decades ago. Since the massive Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, more stories about Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey have hit the news, with Spacey’s accuser being a man. The star’s subsequent non-denial and coming out as openly gay created such a stir, his popular Netflix show “House of Cards” was almost immediately canceled.
One Brazilian theatrical troop decided to take matters into their own hands (or breasts, as the case may be) recently. With no indication at all that it was actually a staged stunt, onlookers in a busy square in the Brazilian city of Ribeirao Preto were dumbfounded when a young woman took off her own shirt and smashed her cleavage into a man’s face, accusing him of sexual harassment while she was working. It was all caught on camera, of course.
“This was meant to challenge people’s perceptions and empower women with the shock tactic of retaliation. We wanted to force men to think more responsibly about their actions and the consequences,” claimed the troop’s director, Fausto Ribeiro. “We wanted to expose and address something that happens every day to our sisters and female friends.”
The stunt may have backfired though, and certainly got far from a universally supportive reception, especially from other women.
“How can you do this in front of children in the city center? You’re disrespecting women with your actions,” one woman shouted at the bare-chested actress. But others called the move courageous, claiming the young woman had “humiliated and exposed the attacker.”
The problem was, there was no attacker, and the woman had not been harassed at all because it was all staged by the theatrical troop. And the subsequent anger when people realized they’d been completely duped didn’t exactly help to sell the message the group claimed to want to shine a light on, either.
While the replay of the events garnered a million hits, it was eventually pulled, after many complaints about its content. But with the recent nonstop slew of Hollywood scandals, it seems to have once again resurfaced.