Golden Globes: Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, and More Bringing Sexual Harassment Activists As Their Guests
Tonight’s Golden Globes ceremony is being held in the shadow of countless reports of sexual harassment and assault uncovered in Hollywood. In order to support the victims, shine a light on these injustices, and try to move the industry away from a toxic culture, seven of Hollywood’s biggest actresses are bringing activists from the Times Up campaign as their dates. The actresses include Michelle Williams, Emma Watson, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Amy Poehler and Emma Stone. The activists include Tarana Burke, Marai Larasi, Rosa Clemente, Ai-jen Poo, Mónica Ramírez, Calina Lawrence, Billie Jean King and Saru Jayaraman.
In a statement reported via Deadline, the Times Up campaign describes their vision:
“As longtime organizers, activists and advocates for racial and gender justice, it gives us enormous pride to stand with the members of the TIMES UP campaign who have stood up and spoken out in this groundbreaking historical moment. We have each dedicated our lives to doing work that supports the least visible, most marginalized women in our diverse contexts. We do this work as participants in movements that seek to affirm the dignity and humanity of every person.
“Too much of the recent press attention has been focused on perpetrators and does not adequately address the systematic nature of violence including the importance of race, ethnicity and economic status in sexual violence and other forms of violence against women. Our goal in attending the Golden Globes is to shift the focus back to survivors and on systemic, lasting solutions. Each of us will be highlighting legislative, community-level and interpersonal solutions that contribute to ending violence against women in all our communities. It is our hope that in doing so, we will also help to broaden conversations about the connection to power, privilege and other systemic inequalities.
“Many of us identify as survivors of sexual harassment, assault and violence ourselves and we believe we are nearing a tipping point in transforming the culture of violence in the countries where we live and work. It’s a moment to transform both the written and unwritten rules that devalue the lives and experiences of women. We believe that people of all genders and ages should live free of violence against us. And, we believe that women of color, and women who have faced generations of exclusion – Indigenous, Black, Brown and Asian women, farmworkers and domestic workers, disabled women, undocumented and queer and trans women — should be at the center of our solutions. This moment in time calls for us to use the power of our collective voices to find solutions that leave no woman behind.
“This past year was a powerful one in the fight for gender equity and against sexual violence against women – from the Women’s March to the re-emergence of ‘me too’ as a viral hashtag that brought more than ten years of survivor-centered work to the mainstream. There is still much work to do, and many hands required to do it. We want to encourage all women- from those who live in the shadows to those who live in the spotlight, from all walks of life, and across generations- to continue to step forward and know that they will be supported when they do.
“The #TIMESUP initiative joins an ever-growing collective of organizations, movements, and leaders working to end gender-based violence. We look forward to partnering with them and others to organize, support all survivors, and find solutions that ensure a future where all women and all people can live and work with dignity.”
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