Some names may surprise you
Hollywood and the world of cinema in general are increasingly attentive to equality between men and women both in front of the camera and behind it. Many steps still need to be taken, especially regarding the equal pay for actors and actresses, but the voices that are raised to ask for recognition are more and more numerous. We discover ten actresses who fought and are still fighting to get the same rights as their colleagues.
10 feminist actresses to know
1. Emma Watson
Emma Watson is one of the champions of feminism. It all started, we could say, in 2014, when she gave a speech at the UN that made her become a point of reference for the female world. It is no coincidence that Watson is active in the project HeForShe, promoted by the United Nations and dedicated to raising awareness of gender equality. She is an actress who must be remembered on International Women’s Day.
2. Lena Dunham among feminist actresses fighting for gender equality
When it comes to feminism and actresses capable of leaving a mark in this sense, one cannot fail to mention the work done by Lena Dunham. His was especially important TV series Girls (awarded with two Golden Globes) which for six seasons told the life of four friends in New York, managing to escape the stereotypes of female representation.
3. Keira Knightley
Speaking of women who break with the stereotypical representation of women, what about Keira Knightley who (almost) made her film debut playing a soccer player in Dreaming of Beckhams? Knightley is very active in carrying on feminist battles both on set, seeking often unconventional roles, and off set, in the way educate their daughters. She revealed it herself: she won’t show Disney cartoons because she doesn’t want her daughters to grow up with the idea that it is a man who has to save them.
4. Patricia Arquette among feminist actresses fighting for gender equality
In addition to being an actress, Patricia Arquette will forever be remembered for her famous acceptance speech as she received her Oscar for Boyhood in 2015. In front of all of Hollywood (and half the world), the actress did not hesitate to put her finger on a painful sore, namely that of equal pay for men and women. The speech had a huge echo, in and outside Hollywood, and was taken up by many of Arquette’s colleagues, such as Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep.
5. Frances McDormand
Even Frances McDormand’s feminist commitment, which it is right to remember on the occasion of Women’s Day, was translated graphically in the Oscar acceptance speech in 2018. The actress asked not to celebrate women at parties, but Of listen to them. Let space be given to them, because they have ideas and projects awaiting funding. And, above all, that there is room for inclusiveness on the sets.
6. Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has often talked about her body and how she never got pregnant. She did so in response to the gossips of the tabloids who, since the time of her relationship with Brad Pitt, had accused her of her separation precisely because of her block towards her pregnancy. Aniston has been very clear and decisive over the years: you cannot categorize a person on the basis of one’s body or for the choice not to have children.
7. Jane Fonda among feminist actresses fighting for gender equality
Jane Fonda, at the ripe old age of 85, is a force of nature. Suffice it to say that a few years ago you were arrested – and it’s not the first time – during a demonstration for climate change. Fonda has always been attentive to battles over rights, especially those of women. In fact, it was she who told of how she suffered sexual violence when she was still a child and how she was fired for refusing to have a relationship with a superior of hers who wanted to abuse her.
8. Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain is one of the new faces of Hollywood feminism, one of those who have spent and are spending more intensely in favor of equal rights between men and women. You have often criticized modern society that judges women based on their looks and sexual desirability, which is not the case with men.
9. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga, like Jessica Chastain, also always has rejected the labels and the way of judging the female body. Indeed, since the beginning of his career, he has tried in every way to regain possession of his body, freeing it from dogmas and prejudices to achieve greater freedom.
10. Jennifer Lawrence among feminist actresses fighting for gender equality
If there is an actress who has fought more than any other for equal pay for actors and actresses in recent years, it is Jennifer Lawrence. It is therefore necessary to remember her on the occasion of Women’s Day. The occasion to bring the topic to the surface once again was the film Don’t look up, for which Lawrence was paid less than DiCaprio. That of wage inequality, in the world of cinema and beyond, is one of the most serious and long-standing problems in the history of the relationship between men and women.