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The tide on gender and racial inequity is finally turning, says respected SA talent export and one of the world's highest-paid actresses, Charlize Theron.
In conversation with Bruce Whitfield during PSG's Think Big Series on Tuesday, Theron said certain events of 2020 brought the kind of "social awakening" the world needed.
"I think there've been so many things that we have experienced culturally, that have awoken us to a lot of social and justices," said Theron.
The intensifying of the Black Lives Matter campaign after the brutal killing of George Floyd, gender-based violence in SA during the hard lockdown, and the conversation on the vulnerability of many women's jobs the spotlight on long-standing injustices in a way that looks promising to start forcing change, she said.
Theron argued the lack of female representation or the representation of minority groups were two things it looked like the world was "finally" closer to tackling meaningfully.
In the film industry, for instance, Theron said the struggle is ongoing. But when she looks at corporations like Netflix, she sees things changing. She said Netflix's success can largely be attributed to its understanding of the audience's interest and understanding that female voices contribute to movies' or films' success.
She said the "old concept" that nobody wanted to see a woman in a lead role or that producers can only succeed in selling one or two of those was becoming "prehistoric".
"I find that companies are so hungry to have more of that. In our own company, we have really invested a lot of time and energy to try to develop material because there's such a need for it in the marketplace," said Theron.
Economic benefits
She said big corporations are "finally understanding that there's an economic benefit to [diverse leadership] that makes complete sense". They see that putting women in lead roles or leadership positions is a "very smart" move, she added, saying that companies have moved beyond seeing it simply as "the right thing to do" or "the equal thing to do".
"I think that, yes, change is happening. But more change is needed; it's not happening fast enough," said Theron.
Theron said it's a shame the film industry, in particular, lost billions of dollars over the years due to missed opportunities driven by race and gender biases.
Actress Geena Davis, who founded the Institute on Gender in Media 17 years ago, has produced a wealth of industry-related data and research on gender inequality and gender biases in particular.
One of her Institute's 2021 reports looked at the representation of black women in Hollywood. It showed that black girls and women made leads or co-leads in only 3.7% of the 100 top-grossing films of the past decade.
Theron said it was up to the people in positions of power, influence and decision making to rectify these wrongs.
Theron on GBV
On gender-based violence, Theron said it was unfortunate that staying at home - which was lifesaving for so many during the pandemic - had become "a death sentence" to some women.
Theron, who is also a United Nations Messenger of Peace and a founder of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Campaign, said domestic violence almost doubled in 2020, becoming a global pandemic in its own right. But it was painful to watch how it hit SA "very, very hard".
Her Africa Outreach Campaign was part of the "Together for Her" campaign formed at the height of the initial lockdowns to shine a spotlight on the surge of gender-based violence. Theron said through her journey of championing HIV prevention with the Africa Outreach Project, she realised that gender-based violence in SA was a huge driver of infections.
"Watching potential go to waste with young women of colour globally is something that really bothers me. Gender-based violence really, really bothers me because part of me wants to say that could be your daughter, that could be your sister, that could be your mother," said Theron.
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