“There are two sides to this coin. We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive,” Lansbury told Radio Times in an interview. “And unfortunately it has backfired on us—and this is where we are today.”
RELATED: Donna Karan Completely Regrets Her Harvey Weinstein Comments, Apologizes Again
“We must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that,” she said. “Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”
At the same time, she acknowledged that the current conversation about sexual harassment and assault marked a turning point.
“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be,” she said. “There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will top now—it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”
The responses on Twitter have been swift, with many users referencing her past work as they level criticism at the actress.
Lansbury’s remarks echoed a similar statement by fashion designer Donna Karan, who responded to the bombshell sexual misconduct accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in October by citing women’s appearance.
“I also think how do we display ourselves? How do we present ourselves as women? What are we asking? Are we asking for it by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality?” she said. She later backpedaled, saying her remarks were taken out of context, and then blamed her comments on being “absolutely in a state of shock.”
Similarly, U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–Texas), last month said it’s up to “the female” to ensure she’s not sending the wrong message to would-be harassers.
Such comments clash harshly with the on-going #MeToo movement that’s led to a more widespread recognition that women’s claims of sexual assault and harassment are legitimate. The social reckoning initiated by the Weinstein saga—in which claims of sexual misconduct have toppled powerful men from their perches in film, comedy, and media—has shifted responsibility for such abuse away from the victim and—rightfully—onto the perpetrators. Lansbury’s remarks, meanwhile, signaled an effort to shift the blame right back.
Update: Lansbury has since responded to the backlash over her comments.
“There is no excuse whatsoever for men to harass women in an abusive sexual manner,” she said in a statement released Wednesday evening. “And, I am devastated that anyone should deem me capable of thinking otherwise. Those who have known the quality of my work and the many public statements I have made over the course of my life, must know, that I am a strong supporter of Women’s Rights.”