Hollywood women to wear black to Golden Globes to protest inequality

Women attending the 2018 Golden Globes ceremony are planning on wearing black in solidarity against inequality in the industry.

Ever since early October, when disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein was first accused of sexual harassment and assault by multiple women, Hollywood has been reeling. The endless list of men accused of sexual abuse — ranging from high-level executives to Oscar-winning actors — coupled with the apparent inequality in the industry, has inspired celebrity women to come up with a way to acknowledge the issues in a way that’s visible to the audience.

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In years past, celebrities on the red carpet have donned ribbons and buttons to highlight or support a specific cause, but their plan for the awards ceremony (and preceding red carpet) is to all wear black. The reds, yellows and other bright colours of the past few ceremonies may be but a memory.

This bit of news, confirmed by multiple inside sources across the industry, follows on the heels of the Screen Actor’s Guild announcement that all presenters of SAG Awards at this year’s ceremony will be female.

Female presenters and attendees alike are planning on wearing all black; so far, sources say, at least 30 women are on-board. As of this writing, there is no word on whether it’ll expand to other awards shows this season.

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There has also been chatter in the industry recently about red-carpet protocol and the age-old question, “Who are you wearing?”

In 2014, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom (who’s also the founder and CEO of The Representation Project, an organization seeking to eradicate all stereotypes as barriers to success) came up with the #AskHerMore campaign, urging red carpet reporters to move beyond the fluff questions for women. She believes that campaign couldn’t be more relevant today.

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“AskHerMore is fundamentally about treating women as full human beings rather than objects,” said Newsom to The Hollywood Reporter. “And I think #MeToo is about the same thing. I hope red carpet interviewers ask about the power the media has to make a difference in the world, how those involved in creating it can set a better example. For instance, the Golden Globes nominated five white men in the director category. White men are not the only people making good films. They are just the ones being recognized. Let’s talk about that on the red carpet.”

But, Newsom attests, that doesn’t mean the fashion questions need to be eradicated altogether; there just needs to be a better balance.

“The campaign is #AskHerMore, not #DontAskHer,” she said. “Fashion does not diminish women; our culture diminishes women. But we cannot focus solely on fashion and these women’s appearances over everything else.”

With all the tumult in the movie industry, this year’s awards season is shaping up to be a doozy.

The 2018 Golden Globes take place on Jan. 7, 2018.