Pop Culture
#AskHerMore Calls Out The Sexist Red Carpet Ritual Of Reducing Talented Women To Their Dresses
The red carpet may be fun to watch, but it’s a tradition steeped in sexism. We can do better. It’s 2015 and we’re still content to focus on what talented female artists are wearing, rather than what their achievements are.
Some would argue that the red carpet is mere pageantry — that we shouldn’t focus on changing the dynamic. The Oscars celebrate an artist’s achievement; it’s not a fashion show. Watching women be repeatedly reduced to objects on the red carpet year after year is tiresome. It’s archaic. So some decided to attempt to shift the conversation.
The Representation Project’s #AskHerMore campaign begs us to look at the way the media treats female talent on awards show red carpets. And if you really think about what we do to women on those carpets, it’s hard not to be dismayed. They posted a call to action on their site this week:
Even at the Oscars, where we celebrate the highest artistic achievements in film, reporters often focus more on a woman’s appearance than what she has accomplished. This Sunday night we’re encouraging the media to #AskHerMore!
We’re using the hashtag on Twitter to send suggested questions to reporters, in real-time, whenever they risk devaluing the accomplishments of women in Hollywood, and to spark deeper conversations in front of a national television audience.
The idea inspired hundreds of tweets, begging presenters to take the red carpet questioning in a different direction. Whether you agree that the way we treat female celebrities on the red carpet is problematic or not, it’s worth the conversation.
