5. Hollywood
It’s well known that female lead actors are paid less than male leads, which prompted both Jennifer Lawrence and Patricia Arquette to raise awareness in their Oscar speeches last February.
But there are worse things in Hollywood than the pay gap. The predatory off-screen sexual abuse in Hollywood is legendary. These aren’t just run of the mill misogynists, but child abusers. Recently, Corey Feldman alluded to a powerful Hollywood actor, an unnamed household name, as the leader of a child sex ring. Elijah Wood referred the to “darkness in the underbelly” of the entertainment industry’s capital, although he states that he had not been abused himself.
Think about that next time you go to the movies.
Perhaps it is in humanity’s DNA that powerful men are given a smorgasbord of potential sexual conquests, often willingly. If it weren’t the case, we wouldn’t call beautiful women married to rich men “trophy wives.” Perhaps it is also true that men who feel they have been denied social power are misogynists to elevate themselves and feel powerful.
But the problem isn’t just a male problem. Women, too, advance their objectification by competing for the attention of rich and powerful men. We wouldn’t have groupies or centerfolds if this weren’t the case.
It’s a good thing that sexual objectification is on everybody’s radar, but I suspect that the outrage against Donald Trump’s locker room talk is fodder only to vilify the candidate. The election will soon be over, and we will have missed an opportunity to explore the cultural attitudes that contribute to the kind of abuse and objectification expressed in Trump’s remarks.
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