sexism

The issue of poor female representation in movies has been examined from many angles, from the lack of women in positions in power to investors wary of female-led films. But do the problems start before the cameras begin to roll?

How female characters are described in screenplays is rudimentary compared with how male characters are described. In other words, representations of women are poor before they even make it to the screen.

As a black female academic, I know only too well what it feels like to have people look right though you. Let me give one instance — from just a few weeks ago, when I felt unrecognized for who I am.

I approached the podium of the lecture hall at the university at which I am a tenured professor. It was the first day of class and the instructor of the previous course was still around, talking informally with her students. Looking around the podium, I noticed that the classroom was not equipped with a computer.

I asked my colleague, whom I did not know, if there was a computer hidden in the cabinet. She proceeded to instruct me: “Faculty are provided computers, they bring their computers, and use a dongle to project on the screen.”

Her words told me she didn’t recognize me as faculty; she did not see me as professor.

There were pills for the pain, but there was nothing that could help me forget that my boyfriend didn’t truly care about me. I couldn’t swallow a drug and turn my partner into someone who not only wanted to take my pain away, but believed that I was in pain at all. There wasn’t a prescription a doctor could write that would make my despair believable. There wasn’t a cure for my boyfriend’s apathy.

Few things are cuter than the sight of your little boy holding hands with a little girl in his kindergarten classroom, or watching as your daughter puts her arm around a little boy from her tee-ball team. At that moment, parents often assume that what they’re witnessing is young love, even if their child has never had a crush and is just expressing affection. While it may be tempting to call your child’s friend a girlfriend or boyfriend, or to tease them about having a crush, here are seven important reasons to resist.

Beauty and strength are not antithetical. They are harmonious. Don't call me the, "Cutest Weightlifter". My semi-stardom did not come without a price.

Beauty and strength are not antithetical. They are harmonious. Don't call me the, "Cutest Weightlifter". My semi-stardom did not come without a price.

Can you name a WNBA team in your state? Do you know the name of a top woman golfer? Did you know it took Venus Williams digging her heels in to get equal prize money for men and women at Wimbledon and that didn’t happen until 2007. Venus Williams! Getting paid less than a dude! VENUS WILLIAMS!

This is doubling-down by a dude who is sorry everyone is upset, but doesn’t actually think anything he said wasn’t true.