LOST CAREERS OF DIFFICULT WOMEN
“If a man says a woman is crazy or difficult, ask him, ‘What bad thing did you do to her?’ That’s a code word. He is trying to discredit her reputation.” These are the words of actress and activist Natalie Portman, spoken in a speech at Variety’s 2018 Power of Women event. Met with rapturous applause as her sentiments reverberated around a room filled with peers, she then laid out a series of ways to improve the American filmmaking industry in the wake of the explosive allegations levelled against producer Harvey Weinstein.
Show business operates on perception. Gossip and tittle-tattle is part of its ecosystem. To be branded with a loaded moniker such as “difficult” can be an effective silencing method. And if we’ve learned one thing from Hollywood movies, it’s that money and power are intrinsically linked. If you take away someone’s source of income by unfairly tarnishing their name, they won’t be able to put up much of a legal fight. Stringent non-disclosure agreements have been employed to prevent women from sharing their stories, whereas lies that
