My eyes were welling up with tears and my breath caught in my chest as I watched the credits scroll. The rising lights breathed reality back into the small bubble of entertainment that was encompassing me. I didn't want this movie to end.
My opportunity to watch the new Ghostbusters movie came in a tumultuous time in life. Politics and social injustices have been overabundant in the news and in my mind, which has taken a toll on my otherwise optimistic outlook on life. Many days, I am weary with the world that I live in.
I do my best to fight for the rights of the underprivileged, the beaten down, the minorities. I am white and I am a Christian: I know that these things normally make me part of the privileged majority of American citizens. The only segregation I personally feel is sexism.
When we think of sexism we think of the fifties housewife: expected to cook, clean, raise the children and look pretty while her husband earned money to financially support the new couch she dreamed of in the magazine.
While this type of blatant sexism still exists, there are still thousands of modern encounters that are sexist in less obvious ways. How women are expected to fill the role of nurse, teacher and secretary; roles that look after others, caretakers. Women make up 50% of our population, so why don't they make up 50% of our CEO's, our business owners, our government?
Hillary Clinton was recently the first woman in the history of the United States to be nominated by the Democratic Party for President. Out of 56 presidential elections, we have had one female nominee. Assuming there is consistently one democratic candidate, one republican candidate, and an outstanding independent party candidate, Hillary Clinton makes up between .6% and .9% of all candidates for president. Should she be elected, she would make up 2.2% of all presidents.
Last time I checked, women made up more than 2.2% of our population. If sexism didn't exist, half of our presidents and presidential candidates would be women.
I will not settle until my sisters, and my daughter's sisters, and my granddaughter's sisters have justice. My civil and political actions have never been about my life and my experiences, but the life and experiences of those who are shamed, put down, but most of all undermined without cause. My message to the world is this: sexism is part of our culture. Just because it may not be happening to you does not mean it isn't happening. Sexism will always exist until it is not only acknowledged, but counteracted.
Reversing the harm that has been done to us is key. Which is why my heart skipped a beat when Chris Hemsworth played the part of imbecilic eye-candy secretary. Yes, it is comically demeaning. No, it is not reverse-sexism against men. It is treating the male character the same way female characters have been portrayed for years. It is the beginning of equality. It calls to attention how obviously unfair and ridiculous the treatment of women in cinema is. It is an uncomfortable jab that directly targets what has been diseased for a very long time.
Just like taking Tylenol to take the pain away will not cure cancer, "simple fixes" to gender inequality will not cure our society. It takes a diagnosis. It takes acknowledging the terrible disease plaguing our society and it takes a group effort to decide how to best fight it.
Casting less than supermodel-sexy actresses is not gender equality. Casting women in lead roles is not gender equality. Writing female characters with masculine characteristics is not gender equality; it is Tylenol. Using a male, simply for the purpose of entertaining the female characters because he is physically appealing, is the beginning of treatment.
It will take more than Ghostbusters and Hillary Clinton to cure sexism, but I have cried with happiness because at least we are starting to fight the cancer that is plaguing us.
Subtle sexism is the most dangerous ghost haunting women today. Sexism exhausts me, discourages me and pains me. I will not let sexism scare me.
Because If my ladies in orange striped jumpsuits taught me anything, it's that I ain't afraid of no ghost.
