ALLY SHEEDY ON HER EXPERIENCES WITH HOLLYWOOD SEXISM AND WHY IT WILL NEVER CHANGE:

I realize I am privileged: I am white and work in the film and television industry. I’ve had great opportunities, worked hard for them, and done the most I could do with them. But I also made the conscious decision to not market myself in a sexual way, and it cost me. It is very, very hard to create a career as an actor without sexualizing oneself; I have been navigating this minefield for over thirty years with varying degrees of success. I’ve spoken out about the sexism in my industry before and faced backlash. I’ve been called “bitter” and told my behavior was “cringe worthy.” Whatever.

There were things I just could not bring myself to do: the film by the (great) director that would require me to shoot a scene in a shirt but no panties, for example. (He was making some kind of statement, I suppose.) I rejected the advice to “date” men that could possibly advance my career. I didn’t go on auditions for films that I felt glorified sex work, that depicted women being sexually abused in a gratuitous way, or that required me to leave my sense of self on the doorstep. (All of these films became huge hits.)

But this is the way women are set up in the media. There has been some movement, I suppose, but not much. It’s a frustrating and demoralizing struggle with some moments of triumph in spite of itself. And I still love acting. I still love a good role more than just about anything.

Why is the female physical appearance so important in the arts? Sean Penn is the most gifted actor of my generation, and I don’t think he’s gotten Botox. I don’t think Bryan Cranston had butt implants.

What is a woman to do? Turn on the TV and you get a good look at rape culture. I have tried to make a career without contributing to it.

I’m still trying.

Linking to a New York Post article last month headlined, “70 years before #MeToo, women ruled Hollywood,” Sarah Hoyt wrote, “Then the liberals took over the industry and it became a cesspit of intolerance and harassment.”

Or as Kevin Williamson wrote yesterday in his column titled “Advice for Incels,” “In the 1960s and 1970s, there were some social disruptions touching marriage and family life. It was, they told us, a ‘sexual revolution.’ The thing about revolutions is: Somebody loses.”