Saoirse Ronan’s Saying What We’re All Thinking

"It's opening a conversation"

via @jennycohair / Instagram

Unless you haven’t been online these past few days, you’ll be well aware that a clip from last Saturday’s Graham Norton show has gone viral.

The panel included Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Eddie Redmayne. 

While bantering about self-defensive tactics and the logistics behind them, Paul made a joke about not having time to pull out your phone to call for help if you were getting attacked, implying that there is no need to bring your phone as a security measure.

As Graham and the all male panel members (besides Saoirse) laughed and agreed with Paul, The Outrun star stated, “This is what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” This was followed by a clear sign of agreement from the women in the audience. 

Saoirse made an excellent point and it is so significant that she brought this to light. According to Women’s Aid, 1 in 3 women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, which is a shocking statistic. 

 

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While we don’t believe the guys had bad intentions, this does show how a lot of men don’t understand how much anxiety women have about such situations, and that a lot of thought goes into how we have to plan ahead.

For example, many women avoid walking alone outside when it’s dark, ask their friends to text them when they’re home, carry their keys in their hands… The list goes on.

The Graham Norton Show is one of the most popular shows across the UK and Ireland and with the clip going viral, it has probably made a lot of people consider the difference between how men and women have to think about safety. 

Saoirse spoke about the reaction to the clip with Ryan Turbridy this week. She explained to him: “The reaction has been wild. I didn’t set out to make a splash. So many men and women from all over the world have gotten in touch with me about this one comment. This is an experience that we go through every single day, 100%.”

She also reassured us that, “Paul being one of my very dear friends, I have had conversations like that with him before and he completely gets that and completely understands that. The boys weren’t debunking anything I had been saying.

“It seems to have had an accessibility which seems to have gained traction, which I think is amazing. It’s opening a conversation and hopefully, it allows more and more women to be like, yeah let’s talk about our experiences.”

We are so grateful to Saoirse for using her platform to shed light on such issues. Hopefully men, both on and off the show, will be more informed in the future. 

Words by Ava Grace