Based on “‘Barbie’ Was Supposed to Change Hollywood for Women. Why Didn’t It?” by Nicole Sperling for the New York Times
When I received admission into a prestigious STEM summer camp, I was ecstatic at the notion of spending 3 weeks at a university filled with congenial peers. I packed my suitcase giddily, picked out my cutest tank tops and prepared a winning introductory speech.
Maybe I was naive, but I had no idea that venturing into a foreign environment could leave teens vulnerable to attack. It’s scary to be alone in a place with no pillars of support. It’s even scarier when the adults that are supposed to help you are the ones making you feel targeted.
I returned home mulling over the discriminatory treatment I faced, plagued by my own self-accusation. Finally, I sat down, summoned up my courage and painstakingly penned a letter of complaint. I refreshed my inbox relentlessly in hopes of an understanding reply, an apology to soothe my tattered dignity.
The email came, and all that awaited me was a single, dismissive sentence: Your concerns and comments are noted.
When I picked up this article, I realized that even in glamorous places like Hollywood, the road to retribution is a long and slow one. Along the way, you’ll be sorely tempted to abandon it for an easier way. One that doesn’t have “Like most things with this industry…they go right back to the way they’ve always been” inscribed on it.
But women are persistent. Women have agency. And only women can reclaim our legacies, whether that be in life or on the film screen.
- Photo credit to Concrete Playground
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