She Said

In Kantor and Twohey’s analysis, Weinstein’s abuses and the corporate culture that allowed them reflect a broader problem: unequal power dynamics between men and women across society. However, She Said is also a story about how women are not powerless even in a world that wants them to believe that they are. These two understandings of power reflect the work of feminist scholars, who have written much on power dynamics and systems of oppression, addressing both the power of domination as well as “power to”—that is, the ability to make positive change.

Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly, Brett Kavanaugh, and the male senators who questioned Christine Blasey Ford are all men with the power to command. They have (or had) the ability to compel others to bend to their will or submit to their force. The text especially explores how these power dynamics function in the workplace, with a specific focus on Hollywood. Kantor and Twohey’s years of reporting uncovered men in positions of authority who consistently harassed women they encountered in professional settings. When women complained or shared their stories, patriarchal power operated to shut them down, shame them, or portray them as liars and troublemakers. Victims’ lives and careers suffered while the perpetrators went unscathed and continued their abuses. After Weinstein sexually assaulted Laura Madden, she spent years fearing his appearance in Miramax’s London office and felt guilt and shame for the whole of her employment with the company.

The victims in this story, however, are also survivors who exercised agency as they recounted their stories of sexual harassment or assault, often revisiting trauma that they might have preferred to forget. For example, Laura Madden concluded that she “had a responsibility to speak because others could not” (75). Madden ultimately served as an important on-record source for the Times investigation. Likewise, Kantor and Twohey demonstrate “power to” through their journalistic advocacy, tenacious reporting, and unwillingness to give up on a difficult investigation even when threatened by Weinstein and his legal army. As a result of their work, Weinstein’s name “came to mean an argument for addressing misconduct, lest it go unchecked for decades, an example of how less-severe transgressions could lead to more serious ones” (181).

Kantor and Twohey also show that men can use their power to stop abuse or bring other men to justice when they become aware of their misbehavior. Irwin Reiter’s daughter Shari encouraged and then demanded that her father use his insider role at the Weinstein Company to hold the producer accountable for his years of sexual misdeeds. Kantor and Twohey write:

The conversation grew heated enough to attract glances from other diners, she [Shari] remembered later. He had power, she told her father. He could help create an environment conducive to women coming forward, and he was obligated to do more (112).

Reiter’s ultimate questioning of Weinstein’s behavior and his assistance with the reporters’ investigation stand in stark contrast to men like Bob Weinstein, who did little to protect women in the company from Weinstein’s abuse.

While She Said is a story centered on the power that some men use to abuse and exploit women working under their employ, it ends as a statement on victims’ empowerment. It is the story of how emboldened women can use their agency to seek justice for themselves and fuel a worldwide movement for change like #MeToo. Although the book makes clear that women who exercise this agency often face consequences, its closing images of women from all walks of life meeting one another offer hope that there is power in solidarity.