The Casting Couch

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last several decades, you must have heard and been aware of what is euphemistically called The Casting Couch, a phrase attributed to those (mostly) female actors and models who trade sexual favors in return for roles in movies, television, the stage, and in magazines, on billboards, etc.

The practice is so widespread that the stately Oxford Dictionary and Merriam –Webster Dictionary both have included Casting Couch as inclusions in their reference tomes.

The recent barrage of accusations of sexual impropriety by high profile celebrities against equally high profile directors, producers, and the like, are impossible to ignore in the mainstream media. Certainly, one must give credit to those brave enough to come forward to publicize the obnoxious behavior of their perpetrators. Sexual assault in all its forms is repugnant, illegal, and has long lasting psychological affects for the victim that, for them, shred the fibers of morality and peacefulness in their community.

What we are not hearing in the mainstream media and from the so-called victims is a discussion about the trade-offs these “victims” made for cashing their multi-million dollar pay cheques. In many circumstances, one can liken the plight of the adult accusers to that of prostitution rather than sexual assault. The appearance of swapping sex for huge money and fame cannot be overstated. Where was their outrage when they were depositing those fat paycheques?

There are, sadly, a tremendous amount of sexual assault survivors on this planet who, unlike the celebrities now coming out of the woodwork to air their dirty little secrets, do not have the voice, the means, nor the strength, to confront their perpetrators and hold them accountable. Some statistics state that one in four females will experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetime. That’s 25% of the population of mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters, and nieces that will have to heal from the trauma and devastation that this crime envelops on these true victims. No big, fat, multi-million dollar paycheques and accompanying fame for them.

If the mainstream media would commit as much air-time and publishing space to the real victims of sexual assault as they are to the few celebrities who prostituted themselves for fame and fortune, then perhaps major in-roads can be made into eliminating sexual assault from the behavior of all its perpetrators.