Mayim Bialik faces backlash over victim blaming in op-ed piece

Mayim Bialik has been a major topic on social media since she published her co-ed piece "Being a Feminist in Harvey Weinstein’s World" on Friday. In the article, she attempted to describe what life is like for women not only in Hollywood but every industry. Many say she missed the mark as she put more emphasis on discussing the advantages of women who are not "perfect 10s."

Not the norm

In her article, Bialik described herself as different from other girls. She said her physical features like her nose and chin made her distinctly different from the other girls attempting to make it in Hollywood.

When she was young, she even considered getting plastic surgery done on her nose and breasts.

Her family was not big on the idea of her entering Hollywood, warning her that the powerful men who ran the business "only wanted one thing." She avoided makeup and manicures at the request of her mother and was always encouraged to be herself when auditioning for parts.

The self-proclaimed feminist left Hollywood at 19 to pursue a college degree in neuroscience but returned years later hoping to get into the spotlight. She discussed how excited she was to land her role in "Big Bang Theory" and said that she related to her character's wish for being "the hot girl."

There's an upside

Bialik went on to explain that she discovered the benefits of not being that "hot girl" in Hollywood.

Referring to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the actress said that not aiming to perfect her physical beauty has kept her safe. "I have almost no personal experience with men asking me to meetings in their hotel rooms," she happily told readers.

She described most of Hollywood's women as having "impossible standards of beauty" that lead to things like Weinstein's sexual harassment.

What got readers upset was her statement about how she dresses. "I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy," said Bialik.

The statement triggered a bad reaction from women all across Twitter. One user called the actress out for "placing blame on victims." She went on to say that Bialik essentially meant that Weinstein's victims could have avoided their harassment had they not worn makeup or gotten manicures as she did.

Gabrielle Union spoke out about her past with sexual abuse. "Reminder. I got raped at work at a Payless shoe store. I had on a long tunic & leggings so miss me w/ "dress modestly" s--t," said the actress. Bialik's intent was to bring women together, but she instead placed blame on over 30 women who have alleged sexual harassment by Weinstein.