The #metoo movement ushers in cultural change in Hollywood and beyond

It’s a Fascinating Time To Be A Woman

Can we please just take a minute for Lady O! At this year’s Golden Globe Awards, Oprah Winfrey declared, and I quote: “Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”

While considering what to write for this column, all I could think about was the current #metoo #timesup movement, and how the world is alive. No question, the #metoo movement has shifted the paradigm. Brave women have come forward to speak their truths. Tears have been shed and the ugly side of humanity has been unearthed. As a result, common sense and thoughtfulness about how to treat another person is front and centre. Finally!

A global shift

It is a fascinating time to be a woman. More than ever, it’s an opportunity to support each other and it’s a time to be brave and stand up to help support a global shift in thinking. It’s a moment to be heard and a time to level the playing field. If we continue to teach our young men that women are equal, then collectively, we can achieve great things.

As this all rages on, our kids are watching and picking up little bits along the way. I find myself sometimes forgetting this fact. Just the other day, while the news was playing in the background at our house, my son picked up on part of what was being aired. The story was about girl power and women taking the lead. My son asked me, “When will boys be equal with girls?” I was taken aback by this and asked him what he meant. He said women can do anything, but what about boys? I quickly realized where his point of view was coming from. In the innocence of youth, boys and girls are equal. As I explained to him that for a long time, many didn’t see it that way, I quickly realized how completely shocked he was by this. I had broken down a certain wall for him. The wall of innocence.

Teach your children well

We have a huge opportunity right now to create a new and different path of thinking for our next generation. We are all responsible for teaching our littles to encourage each other, whether male or female, to lead the way with confidence. We are all part of an important moment in time whether we live in Hollywood or not. This is not a celebrity issue, this is an EVERYBODY issue.

While at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, I witnessed the conversation shifting again to acknowledging the good men who rise up with the hurt and the anger who also want to see change. We also need to ensure this movement continues to be about encouraging our daughters, through education and empowerment, to go after those jobs that have been male-dominated, so that we can get to the business of hiring the best and most qualified people for the job.

Walk the walk

This year in Hollywood, award show season is more profound than the fashion, glamour and the movies themselves. If you walk the carpet or if you win in your category, you must be ready to make a statement because the world is watching and listening. Now, more than ever, those in power must walk the walk. This is deeper than any hashtag or black dress.

That said, it was breathtaking and moving to watch the sea of black fashion flood the carpet at the Golden Globes—worn by both men and women. To make a positive observation about the current climate, I want to share with you some change that is occurring. I work in a place where many women are in leadership roles. There are women I look up to as mentors, who since my time at Global began in 1999, have continued to lead the way. Moreover, there are also some remarkable men who are committed to equality.

A new day

In the end, we know the wage gap between men and women in Canada continues to be a work in progress. The abuse of power is real and it needs to stop now. However, what is exciting, as Oprah said, is that for every negative there is an equal opportunity for something positive to happen. I have to believe in my heart as I look down at my son and daughter that, “a new day is on the horizon.”

Ok really, no more Oprah quotes.  But that speech kicked ass, didn’t it?

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About the Author

Cheryl Hickey

Cheryl Hickey

Family first that is how it is, how it was and always will be. Who am I? Well good question! Like most people I battle that question from time to time. To make it short and sweet I have been in many of your homes all across Canada over the years from working in news, […]

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