27 October 2017, Detroit, Michigan, USA
This was McGowan's first speech post raising allegations of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein.
Good morning, women, allies.
Thank you, Tarana Burke. Thank you to all of you fabulous, strong, powerful ‘Me Toos.’ Because we are all ‘Me Toos.’ And thank you, Tarana, for giving us two words and a hashtag that helped free us.
I have been silenced for 20 years. I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I have been maligned, and you know what? I’m just like you — because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in this society. And that cannot stand, and it will not stand.
We are free. We are strong. We are one massive collective voice. That is what Rose Army is about. It is about all of us being roses in our own life. Not me. The actual flower — because we have thorns, and our thorns carry justice, and our thorns carry consequence. No more will we be shunted to the side. No more will we be hurt. It’s time to be whole. It’s time to rise. It’s time to be brave. In the face of unspeakable actions from one monster, we look away to another, the head monster of all right now. And they are the same, and they must die. It is time. The paradigm must be subverted. It is time. We’ve been waiting a very long time for this happen, but we don’t need to wait anymore because we’ve got this. We’ve got this, I know it.
My sisters, our allies, our brothers — we are no nation. We are no country. We belong to no flag. We are a planet of women, and you will hear us roar. I came to be a voice for all of us who’ve been told we were nothing, for all of us who’ve been looked down on, for all of us who’ve been grabbed by the motherf—ing pussy. No more. Name it. Shame it. Call it out. Join me, join all of us as we amplify each other’s voices and we do what is right for us and for our sisters and for this planet, mother Earth.
There are so many women that inspire me on a daily basis, and if I can be one ounce of that at any moment in time for any of you, I send you all of the strength that I have. Hollywood may seem like it’s an isolated thing, but it is not. It is the messaging system for your mind. It is the mirror that you’re given to look into — this is what you are as a woman, this is what you are as a man, this is what you are as a boy, girl, gay, straight, transgender. But it’s all told through 96% males in the Director’s Guild of America. That statistic has not changed since 1946, so we are given one view, and I know the men behind that view. And they should not be in your mind, and they should not be in mine. It’s time to clean house.
I want to thank you for being here, for giving me wings during this very difficult time. The triggering has been insane. The monster’s face everywhere, my nightmare. But I know I’m not alone because I’m just the same as the girl in the tiny little town who was raped by the football squad, and they have full dominance and control over the little town newspaper. There really is no actual difference. It’s the same situation, and that situation must end because it is not our shame. The scarlet letter is theirs. It is not ours. We are pure, we are strong, we are brave and we will fight. Pussies grab back. Women grab back. We speak, we yell, we march, we are here, we will not go away.
My name is Rose McGowan, and I am brave, and I am you.
Thank you. Right now, there is another mother country hurting that desperately needs our help, that desperately needs our attention, so I am honored to introduce the author, activist and academic Rosa Clemente from Puerto Rico.