Rose McGowan is not angry — the actress turned activist talks social media strategies and the mistakes she made
Arguably, few public figures have made as significant an impact on western culture in the last year as actress-turned-author and activist, Rose McGowan. From outing one of Hollywood’s most public and now notorious leadership figures, Harvey Weinstein, and ultimately dismantling its hierarchy in the process, she has purposefully led to the domino effect of toppling men abusing their positions of power around the world.
Actress turned activist - Rose McGowan
McGowan, previously best known for appearing in Scream and the TV series Charmed, admits that though her own social media use may seem predominantly angry, in reality she is anything but. While in the UK to promote her book – Brave – and raise awareness for CrowdJustice, a platform which aims to fund people in need to protect themselves legally, she spoke to The Drum about her use of social media, where she regularly connects with her audience across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, to occasionally devastating effect.
We are done of being your whipping posts because of your institutionalized retrograde and possibly jealous minds. Do not dare to shame us for being free from your jails. You don’t get to say ho we act or what we do. Sit down. #RoseArmy
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) April 30, 2018
“It’s a really unique form of activism because it’s born of trauma, so it’s been a tricky thing to navigate and this is the first time in history that we’ve reached here,” she explains, before laughing when asked how she approaches her use of social media on a day-to-day basis. “Occasionally warily,” she responds. “I have to have my strength up for Twitter because it is a fight in a way. I use it very strategically.”
Alongside Twitter, McGowan also uses Instagram to post images of herself and those illustrating her campaign beliefs. She sees the platform as a far more positive portal, where she comes under fire far less.
Justice for #ChickeshaClemons thank you @tamikadmallory for reminding us
A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on
She reveals that to gain attention initially she began to strategically follow different people in politics and the media. But instead of following the main editors at publications, she went after the reporters and deputy editors seeking stories. And instead of purely following the major titles, she took an interest in smaller and international publications – from The Kentucky Journal to The Hindustan Times.
This, she later adds, is the strategy she believes anyone with a similar ambition to be heard, should adopt too.
“I wanted to let people know I was there and pique their curiosity and also rewire and reframe how media treats survivors and how it treats the difference in language," she says ."I do a lot with titles like The New York Times, and a lot of the people I’m referring to are sacred cows who you are not supposed to say things about and toe-the-line. I got that memo, but I fundamentally disagree with it because I am a human and a member of the public who is receiving their messages just like everybody else.”
On the impact the use of social media has had, she says it has “opened-up the world" to her. “I had no voice other than what people chose to let me say and I was doing primarily press for other things that people created - men - and I was written about by men and sold about by men, with a lot of female assistance by the way.”
Of her campaign, #RoseArmy, which she trademarked four years ago in a bid to help give a voice to other people who did not have a platform, she admits to feeling proud of what it has achieved so far.
“It is made up of individuals who believe in individual thought and are forward thinking. When I did that, I started to see people who would use #Trump and #RoseaAmy – it’s a very strange mix but I’m grateful to it because it means I’m reaching and the subject does cross party lines, it goes across division, it goes to the heart of trauma and pain but it also goes to a new way of dealing with media, which is primarily what I do.
"I utilize it as a way to speak primarily to the media because I know they will disseminate my information,” she adds and later reveals that she has never sought strategy advice for her social media communications.
On the public perception that she has developed, perhaps inadvertently, McGowan believes it to be a result of being, initially, one of the few voices loudly defending women.
“Sometimes I go hard, but it’s almost never written in a rageful tone. It’s maybe interpreted that way but that’s a misinterpretation,” she clarifies. “It’s because not a lot of people speak for women. A lot of people speak for gay rights, as they should, and a lot of people speak for lots of rights, as they should, but for me it was when equal pay for women was voted down on the senate floor, I was floored. I was looking around asking who was saying anything about it and the answer was nobody was. I wanted to speak to the leader of women and I couldn’t find anybody.
"Even now the women’s organizations have never gotten in touch,” she reveals before discussion of her criticism of Hollywood’s response through the #TimesUp movement.
“I tweeted someone at that black dress meeting when they decided to do it – [she pauses] they made me cry when they decided to do it. I was so upset. It felt like people were dancing on our graves in black dresses and it didn’t feel right. I know people criticize me for not being supportive of them, but I think that’s bullshit. It’s not that I’m not supportive of women, I’m not supportive of things that are formed by four heads of CAA to generate stupid publicity for themselves.
"I fervently hope that their work is right and correct and it won’t be a case of say police investigating police officers, because Hollywood has never been overseen by any authoritarian entity outside of the Hays Code and after they got rid of that [in 1934], all bets were off and everyone was out to make so much money.”
She continues: “I wish I didn’t have to say anything and that I didn’t have to deal with it but once your life is altered, what choice do you have but to do the right thing and for me, the right thing it is truth – my weapon is truth. I have no stake in this. I am not trying to make money, I’ve lost money. I’m not trying to capitalize, I am trying to change the world so when people come at me, I want to say: ‘Sit down, what have you done for the world, because I know what I’ve done?’ And I know what we have done.”
McGowan also acknowledges that her recent publicity tour of America to promote Brave, while also producing an album and a documentary – all to be released on the same day – was a strategic mistake that took a lot out of her, on top of the continued attention it drew, leading to a discussion on the often salacious coverage that she draws from media outlets as a result of her experiences.
“Well, [she breathes deeply] I kind of go at them online,” is her response when asked for her reaction to such coverage. “I just take them to task if they do something egregious."
The conversation draws to a close with discussion on the impact she believes has been achieved. She agrees that she has started to see and hear a change in the mindset of western society, in men particularly, which she accepts she has had some affect on.
“I just want people to see the humanity instead of gender because if we can get each other to see each other as human, then there would be less rape, there would be less trauma, there would be less masculinity. And sometimes I feel worse for men. I feel quite badly for the traps they are stuck in and the tight shirts that they have to wear – I just want everyone to be able to paint colors on the sun and realize they are free of mind and that we can achieve anything, we just have to work really really hard and know that it’s OK to make people uncomfortable, because comfort comes afterwards, it’s like a thundercloud, when the sun comes out. It’s ok. That’s all.”
Rose McGowan could be described as many things, but she’s most certainly not unfocused, and she definitely will not be stopped in her mission to continue to be heard, and help others achieve that same goal.