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Dame Joan Collins says modern men are “suffering from the rise of anti-maleness” in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
The 88-year-old acting legend is a supporter of the campaign – originally created by activist Tarana Burke in 2006 to empower women from black communities who had endured sexual assault to speak out – which saw women all over the world share their painful experiences of sexual abuse and misconduct by men online in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal which broke in 2017 revealing the now imprisoned movie producer to be guilty of multiple sexual assaults on numerous women in Hollywood.
However, Collins believes that the current climate is making decent men become wary around women because they fear being accused of perpetuating toxic masculinity.
In an interview with The New York Times newspaper, she said: “Sadly, I think that now young men are suffering from being labelled toxically masculine because of this rise of anti-maleness.”
Collins is aware that her opinion could lead to her being branded an anti-feminist but she insists nothing could be further from the truth.
She stated: “I believe that women are equal to men in every single way. Except physical strength.
“People say you didn't burn your bra, you wear lipstick. So what? I'm very proud of being a woman.”
The former ‘Dynasty' star – who is married to Percy Holm, her fifth husband – wants women to be at the forefront of the acting business and across all parts of society and she thinks that shifts towards gender neutral language could have dangerous consequences for ladies and girls all over the world.
When asked if she wants to see more gender-neutral terms, she replied: “What's wrong with actress?
“What's wrong with mother? What's wrong with woman? Girl? I don't like having that word taken away.”
Back in 2019, Collins addressed the #MeToo movement claiming that many actresses who had become victims of sexual harassment could have done more to thwart their abusers.
In an interview with The Observer magazine, the ‘These Old Broads' star – who previously has spoken of how she was drugged and raped by her first husband, actor Maxwell Reed – said: “When people ask why I wasn't speaking out about this – I've been speaking out about it for 40 years.
“It seems to me actresses who are saying, you know, ‘I went up to this producer and he took his d*** out and I froze.' I mean, I'm sorry, you don't freeze you go, ‘Stop that, I'm leaving.' I just gave them a knee in the groin. It's hardly suffering. You just didn't put up with it.”
