by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Miscellaneous sources
Last weekend, the world celebrated International Women’s day. In some respects, it seemed like a large culmination for a general buzz of activism that had been growing for weeks and months, but soon enough, the running joke was that the day to celebrate gender equality was of course designated to the one day of the year that doesn’t have 24 hours because of daylight saving time. Of course all the laughing aside, the world did pause to reflect and social media was chirping like crazy to make sure that women had their moment in the sun. But what was it really all about, what was the day for and did it actually draw together the voices and make the impact that it wanted. A call for gender equality has been enlivening actors and actresses across Hollywood for some time, so Hollywood on the Potomac decided to see what it all boils down to.
Photo credit: via Twitter
According to the International Women’s Day website, the observance traces back to the early 1900s and explains that it is meant to both promote the fight to support woman, but also to celebrate the strides that have been made through the years. “We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices.” But it doesn’t stop there. The encouragement is that no matter your method, find a way to celebrate and make an impact in the name of women, not just on this single day—“Make every day International Women’s Day.” So let’s see how that’s going.
Back in September, Hollywood on the Potomac sat down with actress and advocate Geena Davis to specifically discuss gender in media as Davis released the findings of a multi-month investigation by her foundation, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Before a packed room of people, Davis reminded guests that the US is responsible for nearly 80% of media consumed around the world, so if our representation of women isn’t up to par, then we are actually exporting a negative view across the globe. Davis studied hundreds of films and found that even with women making up half the population, in the films of popular culture, only 10% have a gender balanced cast and women are often relegated to supporting roles rather than standing as strong, defined characters that young people would want to emulate. The overall message is that there is still much room to grow in Hollywood when it comes to how women are treated.
Geena Davis – Photo credit: Brendan Kownacki
Davis herself knows the work it has taken to play a powerful headliner, having played a diehard baseball player, a bold road warrior, and even the President seems to match up with her unbreakable spirit, but she notes it wasn’t easy and that she wants to pave the way for future generations. “That’s always been included in the counter argument, that this is about hating men…it’s just so not true and not a part of it…we’re talking about equality for both genders” she shared.
Even months ago, Geena was clearly sticking to message of making every day International Women’s Day—but her message for Hollywood has not been lonely since. Even last month at the Oscars, on one of the biggest stages in Tinseltown, Best Supporting Actress Awardee Patricia Arquette used her chance at the podium to stand up for women and specifically wage equity. “To every woman who gave birth to every tax payer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America” she bellowed into the crowd with a strong cast including Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez eager to cheer her on. Looks like Patricia is also treating each day as International Women’s Day.
So, for those keeping track. Women need opportunities for better jobs (in Hollywood and broadly) and they need to be paid better for them. So how does this happen?
Patricia Arquette – Photo via A.M.P.A.S. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
Geena Davis said that it’s not about hating men—cue actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson. Many know Watson for her wizarding role in the Harry Potter series, but late last year she traded in her wand for diplomacy by partnering with UN Women to herald a program dubbed “HeForShe” that hopes to breed solidarity among the genders and asks men to stand with women and “take action against all forms of violence and discrimination faced by women and girls.” Watson is in many ways a bridge to the millennial generation who can often be vocal but at times muddles messages looking for clarity. To mark International Women’s Day, she hosted a Facebook Q&A to talk about these issues and tackle them head on. “It’s not about men saving women” she said during the discussion, noting that a request for kinship in the fight is not a cry for help. “We don’t acknowledge how much pressure we put on men to conform” she added. Watson herself is not afraid to use the F-word, feminism, which is often too polarizing for people to touch it, but she wears it as a badge of courage when crusading for representation and leadership and she believes that anyone who craves equality, man or woman, bares the same label. Much like Patricia Arquette, she found some inspiring moments at the Oscars when funny-man Steve Carrell noted he was wearing HeForShe cufflinks on the red carpet. This inspired a handwritten note she tweeted to the actor that went viral showing her gratitude for a man taking a stand as the campaign asks.
Photo credit: via https://twitter.com/EmWatson
The big test for all of this though will certainly be how these issues play outside of the Hollywood activism sphere. It’s wonderful to think about female advancement on-and-off the red carpet, but for the everyday (wo)man we have to consider how other states and industries need to follow behind and adapt as well. For Women’s Day, was Hollywood the only ones paying attention? Luckily, no.
Photo credit: via facebook.com/emmawatson
The team at Ford has kicked off a speaker series, “Today’s Woman – Built Tough” which will continue to drive the conversation on women empowerment and committed to new program they have dubbed #SheDrivesWeDrive which aims to put women in charge of the next generation of products at the company. The approach overall sounds more intuitive than say, an attempt to make a pen just for women by making it pink.
Elizabeth Baron is one such woman helping to drive innovation within Ford as a virtual reality and advanced visualization specialist. By title alone, people should already be impressed, but her contribution will make you even more so. “When I first started, it was really rough,” she said, explaining that breaking into the male dominated science and engineering field was peppered with intimidating scenarios, but she didn’t want to be deterred. “It’s me and a bunch of men.” Day-to-day, Baron is using computer models to evaluate multiple design iterations, test ergonomic layouts, predict manufacturing challenges and push the boundaries of quality that used to be much harder when all components had to be tested and created by hand. “Women think differently,” said Baron, describing how she fits in with her mostly male team and uses her perspective as an advantage. She said that as a woman in the engineering process, its form and function and “subjective along with objective. My feminine side relates to that and that’s the secret sauce to what we do.”
Photo credit: via Ford
The Hollywood examples keep a bright spotlight on the change that is possible. As Geena Davis mentioned, the examples set in film can either help or hurt the attitudes of those who view it. Baron noted Erin Brockovich as a favorite film because of the strong female lead. She called the portrayal “realistic” and that struggle of a strong, scrappy woman working for success is a story worth telling so that it can be emulated.
Baron says that Ford has promoted a culture of inclusion and that while personally, there were moments where she wished there were more women around, it has really been an experience of an equalized playing field. Baron, who is a mother of two daughters and two sons thinks that her own example “gives them a confidence I didn’t have at their age” and that the same can be said for young women trying to get into STEM fields and especially at Ford, “[they are] going into a more open and accepting environment.”
The theme for 2015’s International Women’s Day was “make it happen” and it seems that attitude is permeating Hollywood and beyond. Whether it’s an effort to #leanIn or spread the word every day, the on-going organic fight for women might not be over, but there’s a lot of strong voices standing together to make it happen, and after all, that’s progress.
Take a look at more from Ford’s efforts to strengthen the contribution of women in within their team:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm62si46Mzk&feature=youtu.be
