In the weeks since Donald Trump was heard on an Access Hollywood hot mic from 2005 bragging to Billy Bush that he likes to kiss and grope women without their consent, Amber Tamblyn has been one of the most outspoken celebrities against the Republican candidate. Tamblyn first shared her own personal story of being attacked by an ex-boyfriend on Instagram, before appearing in a short film condemning sexual violence. She later lampooned Trump in a performance on Lip Sync Battle.
Like all too many women, this election is an incredibly personal one for Tamblyn, who penned a Glamour op-ed published Wednesday to elaborate on her previous words. The actress recalls having to call her mother up and tell her about her story of assault as it began to go viral, only to have her mother share a story of her own. Her grandmother’s response to her mother at the time was sadly, “Boys will be boys. You just have to be really careful around them,” which Tamblyn reflects has been the wisdom passed down to women for all too long now. She continues, revealing some big news for her and husband David Cross:
I’ve been thinking about motherhood a lot lately. What it means to be one, what it means to have one, what it means to know one, what it means to make decisions as one and have conversations as one. I am very lucky to be surrounded by strong mothers, from my own mom to some of my best friends—those who are raising young women to accept themselves and those who are raising young men to accept women.
Motherhood has been heavily on my mind because I am going to be a mother soon. I’m pregnant, with a daughter on the way. I think constantly about the world I am bringing her into. Will I get a phone call from my daughter someday, one she never wanted to make? Will I have to share with her my story, and the story of her great-grandmother’s words to her grandmother? Is it possible to protect her from inheriting this pain? How much do I have to do, as a daughter and a soon-to-be mother, to change not just the conversation about how women are seen, but the language with which conversations are spoken in?
Tamblyn goes on, imploring readers to not just reconsider Hillary Clinton’s voting record or the candidate as a woman, but to rethink women in general. The whole thing is beautifully written and worth a read. Here’s hoping their daughter doesn’t have to grow up in the same kind of world her mother and grandmother did.
(Via Glamour)
