Why does it seem like men feel entitled to women’s bodies basically all of the time? Well, because, this mindset is an unfortunately common occurrence. Mila Kunis is the latest celebrity to open up about the sexist bullshit in the entertainment industry that she recently had to deal with.
In an open letter titled “You’ll Never Work In This Town Again,” which was published on her husband Ashton Kutcher’s website A Plus, Kunis wrote about a producer (who remains unnamed) who told her, “You’ll never work in this town again,” after she refused to pose “semi-naked” on the cover of a men’s magazine to promote her film. How gross is that?
She explained that she’s not going to stay silent anymore–and that speaking up is the only way sexism can be changed–even if it means making “enemies” in the process:
“It’s what we are conditioned to believe — that if we speak up, our livelihoods will be threatened; that standing our ground will lead to our demise. We don’t want to be kicked out of the sand box for being a “bitch.” So we compromise our integrity for the sake of maintaining status quo and hope that change is coming.”
Obviously, she’s right. Would you really want to work with someone who doesn’t actually value you more than being a body? I think not. Kunis also explains how Hollywood’s sexism is also what led her to form her own production company, Orchard Farm Productions. Of course, sexism isn’t just rampant in Hollywood–it’s everywhere. And a lot of times, people can’t just form their own companies to side-step the problem.
Kunis also wrote about how the producer also ignored her own contributions–and referred to her as “Ashton’s wife”:
“In the process of pitching this show to a major network, the typical follow-up emails were sent to executives at this network. In this email chain, this producer chose to email the following:
“And Mila is a mega star. One of biggest actors in Hollywood and soon to be Ashton’s wife and baby momma!!!”
This is the entirety of his email. Factual inaccuracies aside, he reduced my value to nothing more than my relationship to a successful man and my ability to bear children. It ignored my (and my team’s) significant creative and logistical contributions.”
She ends the letter with a call to action for everyone: We all need to educate each other and stand up for what’s right. Otherwise, nothing will change:
“I’m done compromising; even more so I’m done with being compromised. I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate.”
Right on. Read the entire letter here.
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