E. Jean Carroll on the precarious role of men

UnStyled

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Fashion & Beauty, Arts, Society & Culture

4.8 • 527 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2019

⏱️ 40 minutes

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Summary

It's been 24 years since E. Jean Carroll walked into Bergdorf Goodman and was assaulted by the current leader of the free world. As a self-described member of the Silent Generation, E. Jean didn't dwell on the incident that would ultimately change her life and become a defining story in her new collection of essays, a memoir titled, "What Do We Need Men For?" Inspired by the #MeToo movement and the countless readers she's encountered as a longtime advice columnist for Elle Magazine, E. Jean's book traces her life as a woman growing up in the midwest, as a reporter, along with a lifetime of compromising behavior and abuse most women have encountered at some point in their lives, too. Make sure to catch this week's episode of UnStyled, because E. Jean is no longer remaining silent, and you'll definitely want to hear what she has to say.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Unstyled. I'm your host, Christine Barberick, co-founder and global editor-in-chief of Refinery 29.
0:08.6	Each week, I invite a notable person to come in and talk with us as we explore the funny, inspiring,
0:14.4	sometimes heartbreaking tales of life, work, and love, as told through the things that we wear.
0:36.7	No one knows what to say about writer and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. It's been almost two months since she stood, resolute, on the cover of
0:39.4	New York Magazine, and leveled the most detailed and damning accusation of sexual assault yet against
0:45.3	President Donald Trump. Since then, she's told her story many times, and not one detail has changed.
0:52.7	In fact, her allegations have been publicly corroborated.
0:56.2	E. Jean has answered every question directed at her, even the offensive ones.
1:00.9	Yet few seem willing to listen or take her seriously.
1:04.5	And that, in essence, is her point.
1:06.9	In her new book, What Do We Need Men for?
1:09.8	E. Jean lists the 21 so-called, quote, hideous men she's encountered in her 75 years, beginning with the babysitter who molested her.
1:19.1	Her list goes all the way up to the highest echelons of media.
1:22.8	What's striking, if not surprising, is how relatable her stories are.
1:33.3	It's a sad fact and a sobering truth that so many of us have encountered some type of abuse, coercion, assault, or misconduct.
1:37.3	Nothing about this book is remotely hard to believe.
1:41.3	And over the last two years, we've heard countless similar stories from the women who gave rise to the Me Too movement. We've listened to believe. And over the last two years, we've heard countless similar stories from the women
1:45.0	who gave rise to the Me Too movement. We've listened to them, affirming the importance of
1:50.1	believing women. So why is this particular woman treated like a suspect? For one thing, E. Jean
1:57.1	doesn't fit the mold, nor does she follow a script. She's been an offbeat and outspoken figure
2:03.8	since her early days as a journalist in the heady scene of 1980s New York media. But ageism is an
2:10.4	obvious factor too. Imagine if E. Jean had told this story at 25 instead of 75. Would she be met with more support? Unlikely, according to
	...

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