This article contains references to violence against women.
A clip of actor Saoirse Ronan on the Graham Norton Show has gone viral as many applaud her for calling out the host and male guests for overlooking violence against women. In case you haven’t seen the clip, Ronan is on a panel with actors Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington, who are joking about using a mobile phone in defence against an attacker. Mescal quips, “Who’s actually going to think about that?”, with Norton and Redmayne laughing in agreement. Ronan replies: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”, stunning the men to an awkward silence as they realise their mistake.
This triumphant moment of a woman calling out a group of men for overlooking such an important aspect of women’s experiences, is precisely why the clip has gone so viral, with many women resonating with her words and finding them empowering. However, the fact that this moment happens, as well as the way it happens, is problematic and raises questions about how the men made such an oversight with their joke.
To start, Ronan has to fight to interrupt this male-dominant banter, starting her sentence a few times before finally being able to complete it over the men’s voices. The men’s immediate responses to her statement are also troubling, as the awkward silence that follows isn’t broken by an apology or an acknowledgement of the gravity of their mistake, but rather by quick nods in agreement before the conversation moves swiftly on. The moment is brushed under the carpet, and their mistake is not addressed. The men escape the need for a response by joining in the audience’s applause of Ronan.
What is even more troubling is that these men are known as the ‘good guys’ of Hollywood, with Mescal and Redmayne often being lauded as symbols of a new ‘soft’ masculinity. These are men you’d expect to be more aware of women’s issues, who are known for portraying sensitive characters. Their ignorance is telling.
Infuriatingly, the media response to the incident hardly addresses their ignorance and the implications of this for wider society. They miss the sad nature of this moment, on national television, which highlights how men are still unable to understand the position of women and the threat of violence they face on a daily basis. Is it not embarrassing that these men, meant to represent the new generation of male sensitivity, can so easily overlook and forget the issues women face? Unfortunately, as Ronan’s comment and the support of it shows, women are unable to forget.
Mescal appeared on Irish broadcaster RTE’s The Late Late Show, where interviewer Patrick Kielty praised him for his role in the incident, saying, “You inadvertently teed her (Ronan) up to give an important message about women and how they look after each other”. Kielty not only gives Mescal more credit than he is due, but he ignores the fact that the moment arose from Mescal’s embarrassing ignorance. He further makes this a ‘women’s issue’, referring to the way women “look after each other”, ignoring the role men play, and perpetuating the ignorance surrounding the issue of violence against women. It is this ignorance that allows such violence to continue, as perhaps if more men were made aware of the problem, it would be a less common occurrence.
Ronan also addressed the incident when interviewed on The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK. She says the reaction was “definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash”. Her surprise at the reaction to her statement perhaps stems from the fact that she was simply highlighting an everyday experience for women, rather than trying to make any kind of statement. However, whilst her words may not be particularly subversive, it is the necessity of her input, and the reaction of the men, that makes this moment important.
Credit, Ross @ Wikimedia Commons
Ronan goes on to say, “I think there’s something really telling about the society that we’re in right now and about how open women want to be with the men in their lives”. She talks of how the moment is a positive sign that people are, “opening a conversation” about women’s experiences. This undermines, however, the tragic implication that women have been previously unable to talk about their experiences, and how men are only just beginning to be open to sympathising and understanding this issue. Why is this conversation only “opening” now? Does it not feel long overdue?
The moment seems to highlight the lack of progress we have made, as we sadly still live in a world where men are ignorant to the challenges women face daily. Ronan, who calls Mescal a “dear friend”, claims “he completely gets that and completely understands”, but in her efforts not to damn Mescal and the other men present on the show, she fails to get to the root of the issue. She avoids the harsh truth that men simply do not understand what she calls “an experience that we (women) go through every single day”.
It is indeed an everyday experience for women, as many know the reality of being wary when walking alone. The jumpiness, the constant looking over your shoulder, clutching your keys between your hands as a makeshift weapon, and crossing the road to avoid walking near groups or lone men. Ronan addresses the survival tactics many women have been forced to develop when she talks of how her clip reminded a woman she was working with of the “fake phone call”. The woman’s husband didn’t know what this was, another saddening moment of ignorance.
Women in Manchester know this reality far too well, reflected in the Reclaim in the Night march on 21st November 2024. One of the main campaign goals is safer transport for women travelling at night, which includes turning the 143 and 111 buses into 24-hour services, and the implementation of Travel Safe staffing on board to help passengers feel safer. These goals reflect how fear of violence is a daily struggle for women, who are constantly fighting for an end to this violence, and for the right to feel safe.
Movements like Reclaim the Night, and moments like the incident on the Graham Norton Show, showcase how women are standing up for themselves more publicly now. Ronan is right in highlighting the importance of the moment appearing on national television because, even if the conversation about violence against women was not open before, hopefully moments like these will raise awareness of this issue, and in an accessible form that will reach a wide audience. Let’s hope this moment marks a change in the way men view violence against women, and perhaps their willingness too, to educate themselves on this issue.
