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Nicole Kidman Just Wrote a Powerful Open Letter About Domestic Violence


Following her Emmy win for her role as Celeste, a domestic abuse survivor on HBO’s Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman wrote a powerful essay addressing domestic violence and how it affects women in the winter issue of Porter Magazine.

“It never occurred to me that I should be at a disadvantage because I was born a girl,” Kidman wrote. “The idea that women and men are equal is part of my DNA. I was raised by a strong feminist mother and a fully supportive father.” For many, this is the case until they grow up and experience sexism in the workplace or sexual harassment on the street, but for others equality has never been a reality.

“My feminist roots have also led me to U.N. Women and my work as its Goodwill Ambassador,” she added. “It is in this role that I come to fully understand the barriers that women around the world are facing. I have focused on lending my voice to women who are survivors of violence. The stories I have heard from them have shaken me to the core and changed me forever.” Daily Mail noted that Kidman has been working with abuse victims for the past 10 years.

“More than ever, I am aware of the need to support and celebrate each other,” Kidman wrote. “I like to believe I am part of a global support group network of 3.4 billion.”

She went on to reflect on how each woman, herself included, has likely felt the inequality pushed on them just because they are a woman.

“In those moments, I like to think of those who have my back, who lifted me up and encouraged me to believe in myself. Imagine: if you can fall back on the 3.5 billion sisters, and the many good men who are with us, what could we possibly not achieve?”

Kidman also addressed domestic abuse in her Emmy acceptance speech, thanking the Emmy voters for acknowledging the importance of her role. “We shined a light on domestic abuse,” Kidman said. “It is a complicated, insidious disease, but it exists far more than we allow ourselves to know. It is filled with shame and secrecy and by you acknowledging me with this award it shines a light on it even more, so thank you, thank you, thank you.”

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Read Kathryn Hahn's Letter to Her Sexual Self


On I Love Dick, the boundary-pushing Amazon series, Kathryn Hahn plays Chris Kraus, a filmmaker consumed by her lust for a cowboy named Dick (Kevin Bacon). To indulge her desire, Chris writes a series of explicit letters, each of which begins the same way: “Dear Dick.” Hahn, 44, has made her career playing supporting characters (Bad Moms, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), but as Chris, she is a one-woman sexual revolution. Here the Emmy-nominated actress (who also starred in Transparent) pens a love letter to herself.

Dear Kathryn,

One day you will become an adult. A sexual adult. A fearless performer. And an unabashed lover of your own body. But it won’t happen overnight.

You will grow up the only daughter in a family of beautiful and dysfunctional boys. You will attend an all-girls Catholic school and wear a little bride’s dress to marry Jesus at your First Communion. You will find your husband, Jesus, to be very attractive. In the third grade, when you and your friends are walking home from school, a grown man will flash you. You’ll all laugh as it’s happening, but then burst into hysterical tears. When you go to your friend’s house and play “marriage,” you’ll always play the husband. That way you get to be the one with the dick.

At 13 you will draw a picture of yourself in pencil in your diary. (You will keep a diary because you will have a need to put your thoughts down, to express your innermost everything.) You will point out all the physical negatives: your pointy boobs, zits, huge nose, stringy hair. So much of your shame will come from your physical self—and your relationships with other girls. You will have friends who betray you at every turn, and that betrayal will feel so real and deep and physical. When you get your period, one friend will be so jealous that she will convince you (and a bunch of other people) that you got it only because you fell on the bar of a boy’s bike.

In high school you will learn how to compartmentalize your sexuality, how to put a lid on it. Though you won’t actually touch anyone else until the summer after senior year, you’ll be a chronic masturbator. It will be a deep, weird secret that is also awesome and private and yours.

The first time you will feel sexy will be in college. You will wear a black leotard, a tartan kilt, Doc Martens boots, and a headband, and people will start looking at you differently. And you will admit to yourself: This doesn’t feel bad. Still, you will spend so much time feeling messy. You will spend so much time comparing yourself with others and trying to be articulate, knowing that you’re smarter than the words coming out of your mouth, that you are smarter than the guy you’re obsessed with. Before you meet your husband, you will be with someone incredibly powerful. He will be an asshole, and you won’t share the same politics. You will think to yourself, God, I can’t stand him. You will want his attention and validation—badly. You will think to yourself, I wish I could wear that f-cker’s power.

You will become an actor. In your work you will be much braver than you are in your day-to-day life. The mind-body connection will become clearer to you, and you will use it to get into the guts of each character. You will share scenes with people who are un­­inhibited. You will find joy in knowing that the people behind the camera are looking at you with such empathy and such faith. You will learn to love that feeling of jumping off a cliff into your bravest self. You will use your personal experiences to bring heat to your performances. And you will hunger for that outlet.

You will grow to be so grateful for—and so in love with—your body. Having children will help with that, because it will show you what you are capable of. You will thank your belly for growing them and your breasts for feeding them. You will want to find the girl who drew that picture in her diary and hug her so tightly. You will look back and be so mad you said yes to that bleach job for that gig, so glad you never got a nose job.

At 44, you will realize something astounding: Life just gets sexier and sexier. Your sexual self will become this enormous, loud thing that you no longer take for granted, no ­longer deny. You will refuse to put a lid on it. You will listen to it. My God, you will hear it roar.

Love,
Kathryn

Kathryn Hahn stars in I Love Dick and A Bad Moms Christmas, out in November.



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Here's Exactly What Jon's Letter to Sansa Said on 'Game of Thrones'—and Why It's Huge


The Game of Thrones season seven finale was stacked with jaw-dropping moments. (Spoilers ahead, duh.) Jon and Daenerys finally slept together! Arya killed Littlefinger! Tormund’s beard managed to get even sexier (OK, maybe that’s just my opinion)! But one of the bombshells not a lot of people are discussing is the letter Jon wrote to his sister, Sansa Stark. Much like Littlefinger’s scroll, the font was pretty illegible at first glance. Thanks to the Internet, though, we finally know what Jon wrote—and it’s very interesting.

Read the full letter for yourself, below:

Sansa,

Cersei Lannister has pledged her forces to our cause, as has Daenerys
Targaryen. And if we survive this war, I have pledged our forces to
Daenerys at the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. We are both
coming to organise the defence of the realm.

Jon Snow. Warden of the North.

And here’s what it looked like on the show, in case you forgot:

Way to just drop all this information so casually, Jon. He literally just told Sansa he stepped down from the throne and surrendered an army to Dany in one fell swoop. I’m surprised he didn’t preface this with some sucking up, seeing as how much Sansa was in his corner.

So why is this huge, you ask? It foreshadows drama between Jon and Sansa. Something tells me Sansa isn’t going to be OK with just giving up the North and its army to Dany. She’s a born leader, and I can just picture her glowering at Jon and saying, “Look, I’m sorry you had to go fall in love with your aunt, but the North is mine.” Jon will probably pout in response. One of Dany’s dragons will hiss. It’s going to be drama, drama, drama. Is it 2019 yet?

h/t: Marie Claire

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