Redefining a red carpet

Redefining+a+red+carpet

An action organized by the women of the entertainment industry, prominent actresses, female agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives, have reached millions. This year’s Golden Globes took a turn from the usual as they shined the spotlight on the #TimesUp campaign. The goal of this is to communicate that the time is up for suffering in silence, no longer will anyone support the inaction with sexual abuse and harassment.

Women united at the Golden Globes, arrived in elegant, black gowns, accompanied by their dates. But surprisingly they weren’t making a statement of fashion, they were making a statement of action. The men also wore black suits, going as far as to wear pins that supported the campaign. This was an action in cohesion to raise consciousness about sexual abuse and harassment. Many posted a picture describing why they wore black.

The first to post was by Jessica Biel, which read, “Why I wear black today: Because we are grateful to the many survivors and allies who have spoken out and forced the conversation about sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender bias into the spotlight.”

The official webpage of the Times Up campaign explains, “The clock has run out on sexual assault, harassment and inequality in the workplace. It’s time to do something about it.”

This call to action, powered by many women in entertainment, addresses not only the inequality and injustice for women in general, but more specifically in the workplace. Women in entertainment demand a change. The work ethics of hollywood should change, women should no longer be subject to such far degrees of harassment and assault while they’re simply trying to work.

More than one-third of the world’s countries do not have any laws prohibiting sexual harassment at work—leaving nearly 235 million working women vulnerable in the workplace. Cosmopolitan survey of 2,235 full and part-time female employees, 2015, “One in three women ages 18 to 34 have been sexually harassed at work. Seventy-one percent of those women said they did not report it.”

Another shocking survey from NBC revealed that nearly half of working women in the workplace have experienced sexual assault.

My only hope is that, even though Hollywood still has such a very long way to go, many can hear this call to action and realize that women are even more powerful when they stand together to reset the standard.

In the words of Rachel Brosnahan, specifically when she won the Globe for best performance by an actress in a television series, musical or comedy, for her work in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. She said that there were “so many women’s stories out there that still need and deserve to be told.” Adding, “So as we enter this new year, please let’s continue to hold each other accountable and invest in and make and champion these stories.”

I, along with the many women in Hollywood, are done with being silenced and done with the silencers. No more silence. No more waiting. No more tolerance for discrimination, harassment or abuse. Time’s up.