Poor Aziz Ansari. Humiliated by an incident already acknowledged and apologized for, Aziz Ansari joins the group of men in Hollywood who have been accused of or found guilty of sexual assault.
The woman accusing Ansari of sexual assault is anonymously known as “Grace” in an article titled, “I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life.”
Grace, and staff writer, Katie Way from babe.net, posted an in-depth article about Grace and Ansari’s encounter from the moment they met to their last communication.
Except, unlike many other accounts of sexual misconduct coming out of #MeToo, the article about their date is filled with over-emphasis on insignificant details and contradictions about the most significant events.
If this truly was the worst night of the woman’s life, then why did she have to debate it with her friends and why did it take “a really long time for (her) to validate this as sexual assault?”
Besides humiliating Ansari and harming his reputation, this article has also grayed the lines and weakened the strength of the #MeToo and “Time’s Up” movements.
Let’s get this straight — regret and assault are two different things.
#MeToo and “Time’s Up” are movements bringing awareness and change, but when some women agree in anger and act as if this counts as sexual assault, how can they expect society to continue listening with an open mind if what they hear is screamed at them by people who don’t think twice before claiming or, in this case, supporting what appears to be little more than a bad date full of regretful miscommunication?
The uproar over this muffles those whose stories reveal a more upsetting reality — the Harvey Weinsteins and Larry Nassars of the world.
If the lines of sexual assault continue to be blurred, how can society begin to fix it if they don’t know where to start?
Ansari’s acts, while imperfect, were not sexual assault. His response to Grace during their private text messages was respectful and so was his public response to the over-dramatized, lazy journalism and ridiculous claim of assault.
