Mila Kunis calls out 'bulls**t' sexism in the workplace
Mila Kunis has given us ANOTHER reason to love her.
The Black Swan star has taken a stand against sexism in the workplace by penning a powerful essay for A Plus on double standards in the industry.
Bravely sharing her own experiences, the actress recalls how one producer threatened to bar her from Hollywood if she didn't strip to promote a movie.
"You'll never work in this town again" is] what a producer threatened when I refused to pose semi-naked on the cover of a men's magazine to promote our film.
"I was no longer willing to subject myself to a naïve compromise that I had previously been willing to. 'I will never work in this town again?' I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career I said 'no.'
"And guess what? The world didn't end. The film made a lot of money and I did work in this town again, and again, and again. What this producer may never realise is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace," she wrote.
"It's what we are conditioned to believe - that if we speak up, our livelihoods will be threatened; that standing our ground will lead to our demise. We don't want to be kicked out of the sandbox for being a "b*tch." So we compromise our integrity for the sake of maintaining the status quo and hope that change is coming."
The 33-year-old says the older she's got, the more determined she's become to stand up for herself.
"Throughout my career, there have been moments when I have been insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on my gender. And always, I tried to give people the benefit of the doubt; maybe they knew more, maybe they had more experience, maybe there was something I was missing.
"I taught myself that to succeed as a woman in this industry I had to play by the rules of the boy's club. But the older I got and the longer I worked in this industry, the more I realised that it's bullsh*t! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen."
Fed up with the gender discrimination, Mila found her own production company, Orchard Farm Productions, with three other women.
It didn't take long, however, before she found herself facing the same issues. She recounts one incident where a male producer used her husband Ashton Kutcher's name to further their pitch.
"In the process of pitching this show to a major network, the typical follow-up emails were sent to executives at this network. In this email chain, this producer chose to email the following," she explained.
"And Mila is a mega star. One of biggest actors in Hollywood and soon to be Ashton's wife and baby momma!!!
"This is the entirety of his email. Factual inaccuracies aside, he reduced my value to nothing more than my relationship to a successful man and my ability to bear children. It ignored my (and my team's) significant creative and logistical contributions. We withdrew our involvement in the project.
"Yes, it is only one small comment. But it's these very comments that women deal with day in and day out in offices, on calls, and in emails — microaggressions that devalue the contributions and worth of hard-working women.
Mila then went on to say she was taking a stand against women being "compromised".
"I'm done compromising; even more so, I'm done with being compromised. So from this point forward, when I am confronted with one of these comments, subtle or overt, I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate.
"I cannot guarantee that my objections will be taken to heart, but at least now I am part of creating an environment where there is the opportunity for growth. And if my comments fall on deaf ears, I will choose to walk away.
"If this is happening to me, it is happening more aggressively to women everywhere. I am fortunate that I have reached a place that I can stop compromising and stand my ground, without fearing how I will put food on my table.
"I am also fortunate that I have the platform to talk about this experience in the hope of bringing one more voice to the conversation so that women in the workplace feel a little less alone and more able to push back for themselves."
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Of course, Ashton has backed her all the way, sharing her essay on Facebook with the heartfelt caption: "I'm so proud of my wife for making a stand. The effort to overcome gender bias is a battle in which we all have a role to play."
Mila isn't the first actress to call out sexism in the industry.
Jennifer Lawrence, Lena Dunham, Emma Watson, Patricia Arquette, Amanda Seyfried and tonnes of other actresses have been passionate advocates for women's rights.
We're still a long way off from where we need to be but here's hoping Mila's essay will make some waves in the world.
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