(CNN) Natalie Portman said experiencing "sexual terrorism" at the age of 13 made her feel the need to cover her body and inhibit expression.
The award-winning actress shared her traumatic experience Saturday while addressing a crowd of thousands gathered in downtown Los Angeles for the Women's March
Portman remembered turning 12 on the set of "Léon: The Professional." It was her first film. She played a young girl who befriended a hit man in hopes of avenging the murder of her parents, she said.
A year later, when the movie was released, she opened her first fan letter. It was a "rape fantasy" from a man.
"A countdown was started on my local radio show to my 18th birthday -- euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with," she said. "Movie reviewers talked about my budding breasts in reviews. I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort."
BayerWhite on January 20th, 2018 at 23:18 UTC »
I don't know if this is common in other countries but we do this a lot to adolescent girls in media: movies, tv, music in the United States. Joke about them being jailbait, fetishizing them sexually. It must be a deeply weird experience to grow up with that kind of twisted public attention.
TrollPoster469 on January 20th, 2018 at 23:14 UTC »
It’s terrible how young actresses are sexualizrd and treated. Mara Wilson wrote an article recently, I can’t remember for what site, but it was about how magazines were calling the girl from Stranger Things “all grown up” because she was thirteen now. Mara shared experiences how she’d get letters from perverts when she was a preteen.
TinyEyedCrimsonChin on January 20th, 2018 at 23:10 UTC »
That’s so gross