Many celebrities took part in an silent movement during the 75th golden globes, by wearing all black attire.
The awards took place on January 7th, honoring the best of 2017 film and American TV, as well as outstanding actors and actresses. While many moments of the ceremony were memorable, one major aspect couldn’t be overlooked. The copious amounts of black on black attire worn by the stars.
This, however, wasn’t at all coincidence. The black fashion served a greater purpose: addressing the prominent and terrible issue of sexual assault and harassment. Both women and men stood up against this form of misconduct, by wearing elegant black dresses, black suits and shirts, or a “Time’s Up” pin during the awards show.
“Time’s Up” and #MeToo are both movements that were constantly addresses throughout the night. They tackle the issue of sexual misconduct against woman, as well as general gender inequality and safety. Time’s Up, a movement that helps provide legal aid for victims of sexual assault, and #MeToo, an online movement against sexual assault, help to bring the issue of harassment and inequality to the spotlight.
Many celebrities such as Gal Gadot, Zac Efron, Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Hemsworth, Angelina Jolie, Justin Timberlake, and many more, wore black to the event, supporting the cause and silently protesting against sexual harassment.
“People are aware now of a power imbalance, and it’s something that has led to abuse,” actress Meryl Streep said. “It’s led to abuse in our own industry, and to abuse among the domestic workers field of work. It’s in the military, it’s in Congress. It’s everywhere.”
Now more than ever, cases of sexual assault are popping up left and right, especially in the film and music industry. Within the past year, there were numerous and constant discoveries of females in these industries (as well as in other industries and everyday life) being harassed in the workplace.
The most well known predatory harasser being Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment by 84 different woman. He didn’t attend the event, but still got booed by the attendees when host Seth Meyers brought up his name in a joke.
“We’re wearing black in solidarity,” actress Emma Watson said. “It makes me really emotional, actually, thinking about the fact that this moment that we’ve put together is across industries. It’s across communities, it’s across spaces.”
The celebrities who participated in the movement hopes not only spread awareness about the issue, but also make those who are victims of sexual misconduct feel safer in sharing their stories and reporting abuse to the authorities
As Oprah said in her speech when accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, “A new day is on the horizon!”