Tag: Launched

Women in Hollywood have had enough of sexual harassment—whether it’s in Hollywood or for their sisters in agricultural, service, and domestic industries. On Monday, more than 300 women working in the entertainment industry, including actresses, agents, writers, directors, and producers, announced an ambitious action plan called Time’s Up Now, with the goal of ending the imbalance of gender power across all industries. According to The New York Times, a few of the women who helped start the plan are actresses America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, Rashida Jones, Emma Stone, Kerry Washington, and Reese Witherspoon, along with producer Shonda Rhimes and lawyers Tina Tchen and Nina L. Shaw.

“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 group wrote in an open letter posted to their dedicated site, TimesUpNow.com.

The letter further explained that the group was moved by another open letter it received in November on behalf of 700,000 female farmworkers who said they stood with the actresses and felt their same pain.

“To the members of Alianza and farmworker women across the country, we see you, we thank you, and we acknowledge the heavy weight of our common experience of being preyed upon, harassed, and exploited by those who abuse their power and threaten our physical and economic security,” the Time’s Up Now letter read.

To fight gender inequality and all the trappings that come with it, the group has come up with several ways to fight the battle—including a legal defense fund that is already backed by $13 million in donations. This, the Times explained, will be used to assist less-privileged women to protect themselves after incidences of sexual misconduct. Moreover, the group announced it will work on passing legislation that will penalize companies that remain tolerant of “persistent harassment” and use nondisclosure agreements to intimidate victims. Right now, the group isn’t centralized around a particular leader, and it’s also run completely by volunteers.

The open letter also explained that the group is asking women in Hollywood to wear black at the Golden Globes and to speak out about sexual harassment at the red carpet. As Longoria told The Times, the majority of women contacted about the all-black protest have signed on.

“For years, we’ve sold these awards shows as women, with our gowns and colors and our beautiful faces and our glamour,” Longoria said. “This time the industry can’t expect us to go up and twirl around. That’s not what this moment is about.”

As Rhimes further noted to the paper, “It’s very hard for us to speak righteously about the rest of anything if we haven’t cleaned our own house.” She added, “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?”

The group isn’t just looking to protect the rights of women, but also aims to protect all marginalized groups including minorities, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. “No one wants to look back and say they stood at the sidelines,” Lena Waithe, one of Master of None‘s stars, added.

Read the group’s entire mission statement and learn more about the program on their site here.

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–#MeToo Founder Tarana Burke on What Needs to Happen After the Hashtag
–Hundreds Turn Out for Take Back the Workplace, #MeToo Demonstrations in Hollywood
–Four Powerful #MeToo Stories Take Center Stage at the ‘Glamour’ Women of the Year Awards

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