Perhaps for show or perhaps because they mean it… the elite women of Hollywood have a game plan to begin curbing sexual harassment; correcting what they consider to be an imbalance of power within the system.
300~ actresses, agents, writers, directors… you name it, and all women, have formed a collation of sorts in an effort to not only improve their industry but all industries.
This includes:
— A legal defense fund, backed by $13 million in donations, to help less privileged women — like janitors, nurses and workers at farms, factories, restaurants and hotels — protect themselves from sexual misconduct and the fallout from reporting it.
— Legislation to penalize companies that tolerate persistent harassment, and to discourage the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence victims.
— A drive to reach gender parity at studios and talent agencies that has already begun making headway.
— And a request that women walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes speak out and raise awareness by wearing black.
They’re calling it Time’s Up, it was announced today in fact. It’s a pledge of support toward working-class women especially in an open letter signed by the showbiz females. They even ran a full-page ad in he New York Times, and in La Opinion, a Spanish-language newspaper.
“The struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard and acknowledged in male-dominated workplaces must end; time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly,” the letter says.
This is good and I’m glad someone is stepping up but w.t.f. took Hollywood so long to come up with “something” regarding all the swamp-like behavior out there? Seriously…
“It’s very hard for us to speak righteously about the rest of anything if we haven’t cleaned our own house,” said Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of the television series “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder,” who has been closely involved with the group.
“If this group of women can’t fight for a model for other women who don’t have as much power and privilege, then who can?” Ms. Rhimes continued.
A-listers are many among those making the pledge; Ashley “Nasty woman” Judd, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Natalie Portman, Rashida Jones, Emma Stone, Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon; the showrunner Jill Soloway; Donna Langley, chairwoman of Universal Pictures; the lawyers Nina L. Shaw and Tina Tchen, who served as Michelle Obama’s chief of staff; and Maria Eitel, an expert in corporate responsibility who is co-chairwoman of the Nike Foundation.
“People were moved so viscerally,” said Ms. Eitel, who helps moderate Time’s Up meetings, which began in October. “They didn’t come together because they wanted to whine, or complain, or tell a story or bemoan. They came together because they intended to act. There was almost a ferociousness to it, especially in the first meetings.”
Good luck to them… Hollywood is a breeding ground of the liberal hate machine but once in a while something good CAN come from it.
(H/T The New York Times)