Reese Witherspoon has been active in her efforts with the Time’s Up campaign. She has been seen attending award shows wearing black, appearing in photoshoots supporting the classic Time’s Up merchandise and confidently speaking about positive actions to reduce harassment to women. She recently opened up to Oprah about her own experiences with sexual assault. Marie Claire choose to feature her in their recent issue. In the interview she expressed a genuine passion for the movement that will empower vulnerable women to speak up, increase safety and reduce inequality for both women and minorities.
She is going to tackle these issues head on through her future artistic projects.
However, many consider actor turned activist to be an aggrievance which is reflected by alarming drops in award show ratings. Complaints on social media express a dislike for multimillionaire celebrities patronizing their audiences about political issues. It also has been a cringe-worthy display of has been celebrities using social justice as a means of spotlight-chasing. The Metoo campaign has also been receiving negative attention recently for descending into a witch hunt.
So will Reese be immune from any negative consequences of her current involvement in activism? Her current success, her drive and her unique brand of feminism indicate that she will not only survive but thrive in her new role as an activist.
Reese and feminism
Reese is far from the stereotypical overweight, angry blue-haired feminist complaining about motherhood and marriage. Instead, she embraces her femininity. She is positive about her marriage to her husband Jim Toth and her role as a mother of three.
Reese believes that increasing women's involvement in Hollywood reduces abuse.
She aims to continue creating more work for women and women of color through her work. She combines this aim with healthy reading habits to seek out original material filled with complex characters. By doing so, she skillfully avoids the pitfalls of modern feminist propaganda which includes hijacking beloved franchises that revolve around a Mary Sue.
Her projects feature many female leads in multifaceted roles that aspiring actresses dream of playing. Some of these roles include flawed women with imperfections which create a perfect attraction to the character and story. No wonder strong actresses like Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and even Reese herself are attracted to these projects. These roles not only provide actresses with an opportunity to shine but also be nominated and win prestigious awards. ‘Wild’ and ‘Gone Girl’ received three best actress nominations at the Oscars in 2015. The brilliant ‘Big Little Lies’ dominated best acting categories at multiple awards shows including the Golden Globes, Emmys and SAG.
By carving a place for female actresses which allows them to flourish and even age, it is clear that she supports women.
Throughout promotional interviews for ‘Big Little Lies,’ she repeatedly complimented co-star Nicole Kidman for her abilities, personality, and beauty. She has a genuine admiration for her costars and applauds the achievements of her competition. This is far from the recent feminist victory of banning grid girls from Formula one racing that saw pretty girls being out of a job. Reese’s contribution to feminism is more female friendly.
Her actions to empower women through entertainment does not attack men which is why her brand of feminism is attractive to both sexes. Despite her last project ‘Big Little Lies’ featuring a wife abuser, Perry played by Alexander Skarsgård, other male characters are positive and involve the same level of complexity as the female roles.
Alexander Skarsgård recently won a Golden Globe, Critics Choice award and an Emmy for his performance.
Therefore, Reese is the type of feminist that gives the definition of feminism being about equality, and her actions demonstrate that she genuinely believes this.
Reese’s success
Her career as an actress hinted at the fearless force she was soon to become. She tackles a variety of genres from romcoms, comedies, Classical British entertainment, and drama. Her strength as a performer gained her multiple awards including an Oscar and an American Sweetheart title.
In response to few challenging female roles circulating throughout Hollywood, she proceeded to prove the industry wrong about women in film.
Putting her money where her mouth is she founded her own production company. This risk paid off as she is now receiving recognition for both her onscreen and offscreen achievements at prestigious events.
On top of her business endeavors, she runs a popular book club on Instagram with over 300K followers. Her parenting skills are applauded as her Daughter Ava was seen waitressing in a restaurant in LA instead of cashing in on her parent's fame and fortune. Young woman chooses her as a role model who encouraged them to go law school after seeing her as Elle Woods in ‘Legally Blonde.’
Her ability to come up on top in multiple complex competitive areas highlight her inability to fail. In the interview with Marie Claire, she said that she believed “she could always bet on herself” and this belief is backed up by strong evidence. If her involvement in the Time’s Up movement echoes the success of basically everything else she touches, then Hollywood might actually change for the better.
