THE HOLLYWOOD casting couch is no joke, and nor are the many voices that have risen since the controversy surrounding uber producer Harvey Weinstein came to light late last week. The man who Meryl Streep, in a past award acceptance speech, referred to as God!
The hashtag #metoo has been trending for quite a few days now as (predominantly) women have been speaking out about their sexual harassment, or actual physical abuse in the workplace by powerful MEN.
About time, too.
Yes, I’m a man, and by no means can I put myself in the shoes of a woman. I am privileged to be born a white male. There is no denying it. And the older I get, the more I learn how unfair and unkind white men have been to women throughout history. For much of history women were considered the property of their husbands, and not that long ago, even in the developed world, suffragettes were dying for the right to vote.
I grew up in the 1980s in a household with a strong patriarch, A coal-miner, a man’s man. But I also had a hard-working mother who raised five kids, and eventually went to work full-time to bring in much-needed money for our family. But her duties as a mother and a housewife didn’t end. After a full day’s work she would go food shopping, come home and cook dinner for the entire family, tidy up all around us, do the clothes washing, clean the pots (days before dishwashers) and finally climb the stairs to bed, knackered, no doubt.
Over the years my Mum rose the ranks from a change “girl”, bingo caller and assistant manageress at a local bingo and amusement hall and eventually she ran the place, but not before she had three male bosses walk into that position before her, a job that she could do in her sleep, in fact – the bosses ended up letting her run it. They’d skip out of work and take all the credit and pay for it.
After about 20 years of service they finally promoted her to co-manager, – at less pay than her male counterpart. It was tough for her, as men didn’t appreciate being under her management, and male punters didn’t much care for her telling them to drink up. She eventually retired from the gaming world, and moved into a much more “suited” job of nannying. Don’t get me wrong she loved this. “Dealing with children under five”, she told me, “was heaven after dealing with men, who behaved like babies.”
Women in Hollywood have been forced to stay quiet about groping, unwanted advances and physical rape for years, especially actresses, who feared for their career, if they pissed off a powerful man. Producers like Weinstein, directors, writers, casting directors, even leading men (Bill Cosby, anyone?) would promise possible career advancement in exchange for sex. Some women did stand up for themselves, and many lost their careers or were smeared around Hollywood as “difficult to work with”. As for those who went along with the abuse, they are more likely to be considered whore-wannabes with no talent than serious actresses, and although some have enjoyed fruitful careers, countless other victims have got nothing but shame and a bad reputation.
It’s hard not to be utterly ashamed of my gender for behaving this way. But shame is not enough, we MUST step up and take concrete action to fix the problem. We must make sure our sons and nephews are raised knowing that they do not own women, they must love and support them and encourage them to be the best they can be – namely our complete equals. So men, I ask you today to think about what YOU can do, to make sure your ego and that of your fellow men does not extend to harassment or abuse of ANY kind to women.
Women are by nature, kind and nurturing, giving and loving, thoughtful and warm. I personally will not stand by and let men ruin these amazing qualities of which I’m a daily recipient. So here’s what I’m going to do as an actor and budding TV producer – I will see to it that my sets promote equal opportunity and I will hire as many female crew members, writers, producers as I can. I will have a zero tolerance policy on harassment, verbal or physical abuse and I will encourage women to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable directly to me and it will be handled and I will support them in reporting the perpetrator to the authorities. And guarantee them that they will have no repercussions and that person will be bought to justice. This I can promise you.
And this also goes for us at Brits in LA, we currently have a zero tolerance on cyber-bullying for our members, but will extend this to anyone found to be taking advantage of, or making inappropriate advances that are unwanted to any of our members. In our ten years of service we are lucky to have only had to deal with one case. Men….Brits in LA is not your local pick-up joint!! And to those who may be affected, we you to report it. We will help guide you through the process. We stand with you, we hear you and, we have your back.
LA can be a lonely place and we can be more susceptible to predators. Remember if in doubt ask us, we will do our best to provide a safety net for you here.
With love and respect.
Craig
#metoo #BritsinLA #Wegotyourback
