The Carrier editorial reflects a consensus of the editorial board.
Campus Carrier editorial board
The last notable song Kesha was a part of, she was singing, “it’s going down, I’m yelling timber,” and those words have proved to ring true. Since then, she has gone on to go to rehab for an eating disorder and file a lawsuit against her producer and on Feb. 19, Kesha was denied the ability to get out of her contract with Dr. Luke, her producer from Sony Music, and record with other producers and labels.
This has caused a huge outrage amongst all of Kesha’s fans and celebrities that are supporting her because she has accused Dr. Luke of raping and abusing her. While these are only allegations, Kesha has an overwhelming amount of supporters who believe her.
The courtroom ruling was mainly decided because there was no physical evidence of sexual assault or abuse and the fact that Sony has given her the opportunity to record under a different producer although Kesha’s attorney had argued that Sony would find a way to not support the project according to Forbes.
According to Rolling Stones, there have been a lot of big name celebrities coming out in support of Kesha like Lady Gaga, Lorde and Demi Lovato, who all made statements regarding the ruling. Taylor Swift also made a large donation of $250,000 to help Kesha with any financial needs during this time. In a Facebook post to her fans on the Feb. 24, she said, “This issue is bigger than just about me. I think about young girls today – I don’t want my future daughter – or your daughter – or any person to be afraid that they will be punished if they speak out about being abused, especially if their abuser is in a position of power.” The extremely empowering message continues, but this section is incredibly important because she’s right. This issue affects women all across the world, not just her, a wealthy and famous celebrity.
American employees reported 36,500 rapes and sexual assaults in the workplace between 1993 and 1999, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics and in 2013, there were more than 10,000 sexual harassment charges to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state and local Fair Employment Practice Agencies, and of those people, four out of five were women. The scary thing is that those numbers don’t encompass all of the women who have not reported the harassment they have experienced because they were scared of their abusers or of losing their jobs or even of not being believed.
There are women who have to live with their assaulter every day in the workplace and don’t have the voice or financial stability to speak up against their situation, so even though Kesha’s courage in standing up to her alleged abuser is a sign of hope and even inspiration to take a stand for some women, a lot of people aren’t able to do the same thing and aren’t able to be backed by Taylor Swift’s money.
There needs to be a change in society’s view of sexual assault and there needs to be a change in the way people disregard cries of help from women who desperately need it. Today, we are celebrating Kesha’s courage, but even more so, we’re celebrating that message to her fans that concludes with, “We’re all in this together. You are not alone.”