From sex to sexual harassment in the movie industry

Paul Nathanson (wordwatcher@videotron.ca)
Paul Nathanson has a BA (art history), a BTh (Christian theology), an MLS (library service), an MA (religious studies) and a PhD (religious studies).

Abstract

The advent of #MeToo exposed to public scrutiny something about sexual mores that newcomers in the entertainment industry, notably young actresses (and gay actors), had always known about but not always condemned even privately. Public shock actually turned back the cultural clock by endorsing the sexual prudery that had characterized the 1900s, denying the sexual equality that movies had promoted as an ideal during the 1930s and 1940s and refusing to acknowledge the “agency” that women had come to expect since the 1960s.

Keywords: casting-couch, #MeToo, feminism, entertainment industry, Hollywood, movies, sexual harassment

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