Sexism, as we all know, is still very much a thing.
So. Very. Much. A thing.
Being a woman is hard. It's hard for everyone, even superstars like Mila Kunis, who recently penned an open letter that discusses the sexism she's experienced in the entertainment industry over the years.
One producer, she recalls, demanded that she pose semi-nude on the cover of a men's magazine in order to promote their movie. Livid and indignant, Kunis refused, and the producer in turn threatened her, saying that she would "never work in this town again" if she turned down the semi-nude photoshoot. Kunis refused. The film, shockingly, did very well.
"I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career I said 'no,'" Kunis wrote. "And guess what? The world didn't end. The film made a lot of money and I did work in this town again, and again, and again. What this producer may never realize is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace."
She also describes another incident where sexism came into play. In the process of creating her own production company to pursue her own projects, one producer sent her an email that simplified her existence to Ashton Kutcher's "wife and baby momma." It didn't matter that Kunis was a talented young woman with several projects under her belt, that she was an accomplished young woman in a field largely dominated by men. In that email, her identity was narrowed down to revolve around her husband. As she put it, the producer "reduced [her] value to nothing more than [her] relationship to a successful man and [her] ability to bear children."
Kunis states that sexism is running rampant in professional workplaces, becoming more and more aggressive even, and says that she views herself lucky enough to be able to speak out against it without fear of losing her source of income. Most women, however, are not as fortunate, something she acknowledged. Kunis says she hopes to provide one more voice to the conversation by speaking out against the sexism women face on a daily basis in the work place so that women may begin to push back against the injustice themselves.
Her open letter ended with a classy dismissal of the producer who told her she would fail in the industry if she refused to pose semi-naked:
"I will work in this town again, but I will not work with you."
