Racialicious Crush Of The Week: Rosario Dawson
by Andrea Plaid
Rosario Dawson. Courtesy: nopapersnofear.org
Actor Rosario Dawson doubtlessly brings the fierceness into her roles. Whether she plays an HIV+ stripper, a sex worker, a railway yardmaster, or the beneficiary of Will Smith’ literal and figurative heart, Dawson is not a ride-or-die chick–she’s a roll-deep woman.
I realized how deep she rolled–and am still deeply grateful for it, to be honest–when she famously defended her gurl Eva Mendes from Paul Rudd’s sexual harassment during an awards show back in 2010. As Owner/Editor Latoya Peterson states:
In addition, it was probably important for Dawson to stand up for her friend–often when we are in the midst of a tricky situation, it can be difficult to act. Again, we don’t know what Mendes was thinking this whole time, but she may have hesitated because she didn’t want to make a scene or disturb the proceedings. She might have been completely comfortable with Rudd’s prolonged contact; but she could have equally been horrified and did not know how to extract herself from the situation.
Dawson’s intervention also served a third purpose: to subvert the dominant paradigm with regards to how people treat women at Award shows, particularly in regard to the the bodies of brown women. Had Rosario Dawson not jumped on stage and grabbed Rudd, would we have even heard about the bit? And would that bit have been considered if Rudd was onstage with a white woman? I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of when white women have had their chest area exposed or groped for entertainment value on an award show stage, and I am coming up short. Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson back in 2004 at the Superbowl and Diana Ross reached out and touched Lil’ Kim at the 1999 VMAs, but that’s about all that comes to mind.
But when it comes to women (particularly brown women), bodies, and consent, even something as simple as a kiss becomes an interesting moment in seeing the difference how people react to different scenarios.
So when we look at the Rudd-Mendes-Dawson event, it is a feminist success because it allowed Dawson to both stand up for her friend and publicly challenge a dominant idea that women’s bodies are sexually fair game as entertainment fodder.
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