Many celebrities dressed in all black at the 75th Golden Globe Awards to stand in solidarity against gender inequality and sexual harassment in the workplace.
The coordinated ‘blackout’ was connected to Time’s Up, a movement formed by over 300 prominent women in the entertainment industry including Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Shonda Rhimes.
TIME’S UP was announced on January 1st, 2018 in an open letter published as a full-page ad in The New York Times.
“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,” according to an open letter.
The open letter was signed by hundreds of women in Hollywood and acknowledged the letter of solidarity written in November of 2017 by Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, the first national farmworker organization of approximately 700,000 female farmworkers in the United States.
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas’ open letter, published in Time, expressed their support of the Hollywood celebrities who have shared their experiences with sexual assault and harassment.
“Even though we work in very different environments, we share a common experience of being preyed upon by individuals who have the power to hire, fire, blacklist and otherwise threaten our economic, physical and emotional security. Like you [the victims of Hollywood], there are few positions available to us and reporting any kind of harm or injustice committed against us doesn’t seem like a viable option,” the letter stated.
The women of TIME’S UP conveyed their mutual support in their letter by stating their mission to have all sexual harassment survivors be heard and believed, especially for those working in low-wage industries.
The initiative includes a TIME’S UP legal defence fund administered by the National Women’s Law Centre. Currently, more than $16 million has been raised to provide less-privileged women facing sexual misconduct and abuse with legal resources and services, according to Splinter News. In addition, the centre supports ‘50/50 by 2020’, a movement of women, people of colour and LGBTQ members advocating for equity in the entertainment industry.
Several male celebrities, including Chris Hemsworth, Aziz Ansari and Zac Efron have showed their support at the Golden Globes not only by wearing black, but by wearing a TIME’S UP pin on their lapels. Multiple celebrities who did not attend the Golden Globes expressed their support including Julianne Moore, Kristen Bell and Hilary Duff, by sharing photos of themselves wearing black on Twitter and Instagram.
Some members of Congress are also planning to further support the movement by wearing the colour black during President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address later in January, according to CNN.
To donate to the TIME’S UP legal defence fund, visit their GoFundMe page.
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