The film and television industries have always been accused of treating women like objects, but very rarely do men speak up about perceived sexism against them.
Now, Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who plays the smouldering Jon Snow, is crying foul against Hollywood for what he says is a double standard. (For the record, he derides sexism against women, too.)
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In an interview with the U.K.’s The Sunday Times, Harington didn’t mince words.
“I think there is a double standard,” he said pointedly. “If you said to a girl, ‘Do you like being called a babe?’ and she said, ‘No, not really,’ she’d be absolutely right. I like to think of myself as more than a head of hair or a set of looks.”
“It’s demeaning,” he continued. “Yes, in some ways you could argue I’ve been employed for a look I have. But there’s a sexism that happens towards men. There’s definitely a sexism in our industry that happens towards women, and there is towards men as well.”
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The irony was not lost on Game of Thrones fans — the HBO show is often criticized for its excessive mistreatment of women, including multiple violent rape scenes, and ample female nudity.
Harington was promptly blasted on Twitter for his opinion.
During an interview with Page Six in 2015, Harington said, “To always be put on a pedestal as a hunk is slightly demeaning.”
“I’m in a successful TV show in a kind of leading man way, and it can sometimes feel like your art is being put to one side for your sex appeal. And I don’t like that.”
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