"Times Up!" or "Times Up?"
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As a feminist and as a womyn who has experienced multiple instances of sexual harassment, misconduct and violence at the hands of men, I am pleased to see the energy around addressing longstanding misogyny and patriarchal oppression. I’m grateful that the violence is being called out and that womyn (and some men) are feeling empowered enough to hold individuals, especially those in positions of high power, accountable.
Long overdue conversations around intersections of identity, power, the patriarchy, respectability politics, victim-shaming, gaslighting and the like have been brought into the national discourse in new ways. For a womyn who, most of her life, has been called “too sensitive” or “offended too easily” or told that “boys will be boys” this is at times downright thrilling when it’s not downright enraging or downright exhausting. For me, it tends to be all three.
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The 75th Golden Globes this past week continued the national buzz around what is being coined the “#Me Too Movement” with their own industry specific movement “Time’s Up.” Various stars walked the red carpet wearing black as a sign of their support to those who have spoken out against sexual harassment and misconduct. A few leading actors took this a step further and invited activists to be their companions on the red carpet.
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Meryl Streep invited Ai-Jen Poo who is the Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Emma Watson brought Marai Larasi who is the Executive Director of Imkaan, a British network of organizations working to end violence against Women of Color. Michelle Williams attended with Tarana Burke who is the founder of the #MeToo Movement and Director of Girls for Gender Equity. Amy Poehler invited Saru Jayaraman who is a workplace justice advocate for restaurant workers who experience some of the highest rates of sexual harassment and misconduct in the nation.
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Laura Dern brought Monica Ramirez who fights sexual violence against farm workers and works for Latina empowerment. Susan Sarandon arrived with Rose Clemente who is a Puerto Rican activist and journalist who has focused heavily on the plight of political prisoners and voter engagement. Shailene Woodley brought Calina Lawrence who is a Suquamish activist for Indigenous Justice and water rights among other causes.
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Seth Meyers confronted sexism and racism throughout the evening through humor and solidarity certainly surfaced in various acceptance speeches from Laura Dern, Elisabeth Moss, Frances McDormand and Nicole Kidman to name a few. Natalie Portman called out the fact that only men were nominated for Director of a Motion Picture and Oprah… well… she Oprah'd.
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During her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille award she most certainly did not hold back and her speech addressing a long overdue turn of the tides against those in power who oppress and abuse others went viral throughout social media feeds. In fact, people were so incredibly inspired by Oprah (beyond this speech alone, I’m sure) that many began calling for her to run for President of the United States. Many attendees wore lapel pins showing their support, although incredibly few of these were men, and the night seemed to create a new awareness and show a new sense of support for women and survivors.
This should be a time when my exhaustion and enraged feelings are squelched by my thrill at seeing such widespread support. Somehow it wasn’t.
It was clear in the red carpet interviews that men were not asked about the Times Up movement to the same extent that womyn were. It leaves one to wonder if this misstep served to absolve the men of Hollywood of responsibility to dialogue around an issue that has been created and perpetuated by their male colleagues at bare minimum, if not themselves. During the ceremony itself, Kirk Douglas was honored from the stage. Kirk has openly and publicly been accused of raping Natalie Wood when she was an up and coming actor. Gary Oldman walked away a winner in the Best Actor category even though he not only has domestic violence allegations against him but he also has made horrific statements defending other abusers in the past.
This doesn’t even begin to dive into his long history of using racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic language openly and unapologetically on multiple occasions. He has also used charming language towards his former partner Oksana Grigorieva such as, “I hope you get raped by a pack of n****rs.” Imagine my shock, when he was honored in the midst of what was supposed to be an empowering evening dedicated to the complete opposite of everything this man seems to represent.
Aside from the obvious disconnect in the theme of the evening and those who were present with accusations or a lack of support, I was left wondering about the disconnect that lingers for many of those who said they stand in solidarity for Times Up and wore the lapel pin to “prove it.” For example, James Franco is deeply loved by many as an actor, an eccentric and an academic. He accepted an award while wearing a Times Up lapel pin which enraged many, especially the five womyn so far that have come forward with sexual misconduct accusations against him.
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Is this a sustainable movement or simply a flavor of the month for those without current (public) accusations? I think Justin Timberlake illustrated this disconnect well when he tweeted a photo of himself and his wife, Jessica Biel claiming they were wearing black in solidarity and finishing with the hashtags #TIMESUP & #whywewearblack. Interestingly, Justin Timberlake just starred in Woody Allen’s latest film “Wonder Wheel” despite the incredibly public child rape allegations against the director.
I am happy to see that powerful womyn are using their voice to speak out about inequity and bring attention to the work of activists who are fighting daily against the incredible injustices perpetuated within our society but I sincerely hope that we continue to hold not only abusers, but abuse apologists and supporters accountable as well. Then, and only then, can we truly say “Time’s Up!”