Pretty much everyone has now seen THAT Cara Delevingne interview – you
know, the one where she was called "Carla" (despite being one of the
most famous supermodels in the world) and then asked some of the most
ill-informed questions we've ever heard.
The condescending interviewers assumed that she hadn't read the book the film was based on, which leaves us asking whether they would have asked a male actor the same question. Assuming that Cara Delevingne wouldn’t be able to read a book written for teenagers, or the source material for the film she has a starring role in is both patronising and sexist.
It's such a trite cliche to paint supermodels as stupid and illiterate. Women in general are patronised in pretty much every industry, even in ones they dominate. Women face stupid questions in interviews all the time, asked about their diets and boyfriends rather than their accomplishments, thoughts and dreams, and are treated as decorations rather than people, as plus-ones for famous men. And while facing this indignity, they are expected to smile sweetly and laugh indulgently, and if they don’t, they get a very negative response.
Just look at how the interviewers treat Cara, who was actually pretty polite and composed to begin with, until you could quite rightly start to see her lose her temper. Her treatment is not an isolated case either. Just look at the rubbish Kristen Stewart got for not smiling, and the ridiculous questions reporters ask female actors and singers every day. It got so bad during the last Avengers press campaign that Mark Ruffalo answered all of the typically sexist questions aimed at Scarlett Johansson.
The author of the book Paper Towns, John Green, has spoken out about the sexism endemic in the industry, and about the fact that Cara Delevingne is always asked whether she has read the book, while her male co-star is always asked when he read the book. It’s assumed that she hasn’t read the book and that he has.
When will the mainstream media stop with this endemic gender-biased bullshit? This ignorant treatment of talented young women has to end.
The condescending interviewers assumed that she hadn't read the book the film was based on, which leaves us asking whether they would have asked a male actor the same question. Assuming that Cara Delevingne wouldn’t be able to read a book written for teenagers, or the source material for the film she has a starring role in is both patronising and sexist.
It's such a trite cliche to paint supermodels as stupid and illiterate. Women in general are patronised in pretty much every industry, even in ones they dominate. Women face stupid questions in interviews all the time, asked about their diets and boyfriends rather than their accomplishments, thoughts and dreams, and are treated as decorations rather than people, as plus-ones for famous men. And while facing this indignity, they are expected to smile sweetly and laugh indulgently, and if they don’t, they get a very negative response.
Just look at how the interviewers treat Cara, who was actually pretty polite and composed to begin with, until you could quite rightly start to see her lose her temper. Her treatment is not an isolated case either. Just look at the rubbish Kristen Stewart got for not smiling, and the ridiculous questions reporters ask female actors and singers every day. It got so bad during the last Avengers press campaign that Mark Ruffalo answered all of the typically sexist questions aimed at Scarlett Johansson.
The author of the book Paper Towns, John Green, has spoken out about the sexism endemic in the industry, and about the fact that Cara Delevingne is always asked whether she has read the book, while her male co-star is always asked when he read the book. It’s assumed that she hasn’t read the book and that he has.
When will the mainstream media stop with this endemic gender-biased bullshit? This ignorant treatment of talented young women has to end.
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