Feminism is always someone else's problem
Women are their own worst enemy and the only real threat to feminism. It's become the on-trend topic for comment, whether it affects you or not, feminism is everyone's fight.
In the last three or so years, there seems to be a response to the treatment of women in other countries and lack of role models that didn't sell themselves on sex. I'm not a fan of Caitlin Moran. I think she talks utter drivel 90% of the time. But what she did do is put feminism back on the agenda in 2012 with her book How To Be A Woman. She highlighted the day-to-day issues women face purely because of their gender. And these differences become more and more obvious. Whether it's discrimination at work, at school or just going out to a bar. Women are constantly being objectified and side-lined. This is painfully apparent in the media and Hollywood - where women are made to hate their bodies, their looks, their dress sense and their lives. And they're sexualised and victimised in most roles.
Yet Patricia Arquette, who got a standing ovation for her feminist battle-cry, called on black women and lesbians to start fighting for gender equality.
The highest grossing actor is a woman (Jennifer Lawrence) and the actor who still commands £20 million a picture is a woman (Sandra Bullock). Yet, women aren't paid equally nor are they given the same opportunities.
Black women and lesbians are already fighting for survival, not just on the grounds of their race or their sexual orientation, but for equality as women too. Because they need to put food on the table and enjoy the same freedoms as everyone else, not just because they got paid $1 million less than their male counterparts.
Celebrities are listened to, even by politicians, so perhaps instead of delegating it should be them fighting for feminism. As ambassadors for women, it's up to them to lead by example. If anyone has the power to take a stand and make a change, it's the women of Hollywood.
First published on 15/04/2015
In the last three or so years, there seems to be a response to the treatment of women in other countries and lack of role models that didn't sell themselves on sex. I'm not a fan of Caitlin Moran. I think she talks utter drivel 90% of the time. But what she did do is put feminism back on the agenda in 2012 with her book How To Be A Woman. She highlighted the day-to-day issues women face purely because of their gender. And these differences become more and more obvious. Whether it's discrimination at work, at school or just going out to a bar. Women are constantly being objectified and side-lined. This is painfully apparent in the media and Hollywood - where women are made to hate their bodies, their looks, their dress sense and their lives. And they're sexualised and victimised in most roles.
Yet Patricia Arquette, who got a standing ovation for her feminist battle-cry, called on black women and lesbians to start fighting for gender equality.
The highest grossing actor is a woman (Jennifer Lawrence) and the actor who still commands £20 million a picture is a woman (Sandra Bullock). Yet, women aren't paid equally nor are they given the same opportunities.
Black women and lesbians are already fighting for survival, not just on the grounds of their race or their sexual orientation, but for equality as women too. Because they need to put food on the table and enjoy the same freedoms as everyone else, not just because they got paid $1 million less than their male counterparts.
Celebrities are listened to, even by politicians, so perhaps instead of delegating it should be them fighting for feminism. As ambassadors for women, it's up to them to lead by example. If anyone has the power to take a stand and make a change, it's the women of Hollywood.
First published on 15/04/2015
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