Like Kathleen Kennedy and Reese Witherspoon, Ava DuVernay used her appearance at Elle’s recent Women in Hollywood Event to discuss Hollywood’s misogyny in light of the revelations about serial predator Harvey Weinstein. As she introduced event honoree Tessa Thompson (“Selma,” “Westworld”), DuVernay took a moment to stress that all women need to be protected from the sexual harassment and abuse that runs rampant in the industry — including women of color and those who identify as LGBTQ.
“I bring up color in regards to Tessa because it is important. Her identity in this industry isn’t only woman, it is one of color,” DuVernay observed in her speech. “This invites a particular gaze, a particular way of being seen, a particular way of seeing yourself.”
As DuVernay pointed out, non-white and queer women in Hollywood face that ever-present double bind: their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation makes them a target, as does their gender. “For…women like me and many others, that protection of our womenhood isn’t enough, because we’re not only women. We’re black. We’re brown. We are native. We are Asian. We are Muslim. We are queer. We are many things that deserve safe spaces and protection,” she explained.
If Hollywood will ever truly change its treatment of women, it will need a united, intersectional push. “We can take this moment and enter in with focus. Harvey, sexual harassment, all of that’s deserving of our focus and attention,” DuVernay said. “But, we come in here with focus and ferocity and fever, with an intention that says, until all women are safe, until we take an intersectional approach to safeguard within this industry, that we are not truly living up to the movement.”
Finally, DuVernay warned of prioritizing any “-ism” over another in the fight to reform the film industry. “We don’t have time to work on these -isms one by one,” she condluded. “Triggered by trauma and outrage, we should be outraged by all of it all of the time. Until we are all safe, no one is safe.”
DuVernay is a writer, director, producer, the founder of film collective ARRAY, and the first woman of color to helm a $100 million feature. The Oscar-nominated doc “13th,” “Selma,” “Middle of Nowhere,” “I Will Follow,” “Scandal,” and the highly-anticipated “A Wrinkle in Time” are among her directing credits. DuVernay created the OWN family drama “Queen Sugar” with Oprah Winfrey. It is currently in its second season. She’s also working on a Netflix miniseries about the Central Park Five and a TV adaptation of Octavia Butler’s “Dawn.”
You can read DuVernay’s entire Women in Hollywood Event speech over at Elle.
