Jia Tolentino and Claire Vaye Watkins Talk Abuse, Harassment,
and Harvey Weinstein

In episode two of fiction/non/fiction, Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan talk to Jia Tolentino and Claire Vaye Watkins about Hollywood’s serial abusers, harassment, and the now infamous Harvey Weinstein.

This episode’s readings: “How Men Like Harvey Weinstein Implicate Their Victims in Their Acts” by Jia Tolentino · What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah · “Virgins” by Danielle Evans · “On Pandering” by Claire Vaye Watkins

From episode two:

Claire Vaye Watkins

“I wanted to know what it does to the artist’s mind to have to navigate that type of landscape while at the same time trying to be good at art.”

“What does choice even mean in this context for this girl?”

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Jia Tolentino

“It’s not a sex thing. It’s a sexualization of vulnerability.”

“There is no socially engaged fiction I think that could ignore that dynamic.”

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V.V. Ganeshananthan

“I was struck by how well the reporting around this situation has captured the long-lasting effects of these encounters with Harvey Weinstein, the long life of the trauma, the way that some of the women describe changing their lives in response to what happened to them.”

“How would I prepare myself for certain kinds of vulnerability or choices or decisions that I didn’t expect to have to make?”

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Whitney Terrell

“These guys had an MO that was always repeated. It’s terrifying in that way.”

“Are these women operating under the same logic that Evans’ story describes—there’s no such thing as safer, only safer?”