Helen Mirren, 63, made some controversial statements about date rape, in her recent interview with GQ Magazine.
The 63-year-old actress said when she was younger she was forced to have sex against her will and was too “naive” to say no.
Asked if she reported the incidents to the police, she told GQ magazine: “No, you couldn’t do that in those days.
“It’s such a tricky area, isn’t it? Especially if there is no violence. I mean, look at Mike Tyson. I don’t think he was a rapist.”
If a woman voluntarily ends up in a man’s bedroom, takes all her clothes off and engages in sexual activity in bed with him she has the right to say “no” at the last second, Dame Helen said.
If the man ignored her it was rape, Dame Helen said.
But she said: “I don’t think she can have that man into court under those circumstances.
“I guess it is one of the many subtle parts of the men/women relationship that has to be negotiated and worked out between them.
“Times have changed. I hate young girls going around beating each other up, but I love the fierceness of young girls nowadays, and the way they just say, ‘f*** off’, because I wish I’d been taught to say ‘f*** off’ when I was younger.
“I wish I’d had those words in my arsenal of self-defence. Instead, I was polite and didn’t have the courage to say that to men who wouldn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer.
“I was pretty naive, I went to a convent school until I was 18, and had never spent a night away from home, or gone to parties, or any of that.
“So I was very innocent when I went to college in London, and I was living on my own. And I found guys were horrible, mean, rude, insulting, and so without feeling.
“And I was looking for love and for someone who just liked me, made me laugh and was nice to me. And instead I just met all these creeps.”
She said of her own experiences: “I was (date-raped), yes. A couple of times.
“Not with excessive violence, or being hit, but rather being locked in a room and made to have sex against my will.”
From Telegraph.co.uk
What are your thoughts on what Helen said? 
Sami
Tags: Date Rape, Helen Mirren, Sex
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
First, I think it is awful that any person has to experience the pain of rape. As to Mirren’s comment that a woman would not have legal recourse when she has willingly gone into a man’s room, got naked, and then said no. This may have been the thinking when Mirren was in college but this is not the thinking today. No means No! I think Mirren was meaning that it would be more difficult to prosecute and convict someone in such circumstances, but I do not know that is what she meant. If it is what she meant, she should have said that as her actual words could serve to further discourage the reporting of an already under reported crime; rape.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I was astounded by her comment saying that she didn’t think that you could have a guy up on charges for that. To me that is the statement of a rape apologist. The last thing that men need is a woman making excuses for rape.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
Mike Tyson not a rapist? That’s like saying Michael Jackson isn’t a paedo.
Haven’t seen you round WTF recently. Hope everything’s okay.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:00 am
I think she hit the nail on the head; in many
ways today the way women dress they ask to
be treated as a sex symbol; which turns the
men on; so what do you expect. In days of old
we didn’t have any say so, whether we were raped or not or abused in being raped.
Oprah and many others claiming to be sexually
molested, when young are by far not the only ones who have been; the world is full of
sexual abuse. And unfortunately we women are contributing to it when we should know better.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Helen Mirren is right and I might add that we women of today have forgotten the sexual abuse our Mothers went thru; there was no say so of how a woman was sexually exploited in the old days; but today
the way women dress is a come-on; have we not
learned how to arouse the male, the animal
instinct in them (some women). We want our cake and icing too since our liberation;
career, children to be reared by someone else.
We’ve come a long way; but we forget
that our Maker or whomever made us different for a reason, Women are the backbone of the
man(are should I say rib) and yes we can most of us do a man’s job (they can’t have babies yet) There’s greatness in both sexes;
good and evil. We have a choice.