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Meryl Streep is Formulating a Plan to Tackle Sexism in Hollywood

Meryl Streep is teaming up with other actresses to work on a plan to eradicate sexism in Hollywood.

The multiple Oscar winner sat down for a chat with feminist icon Gloria Steinem at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston on Thursday (07Dec17) and told her that she is part of a team of actresses who are taking action to make sure there will be gender equality in the industry in the near future.

“Right now, I’m getting together with a bunch of actresses that you know very well, and we’re all sort of going to make a set of non-negotiable demands,” she said, according to People. “We’re after 50/50 by 2020.”

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She referred to the multiple sexual harassment, assault and rape allegations made against Harvey Weinstein and said the disgraced producer was “the most gargantuan example of a kind of disrespect that permeates every industry” and thinks it is an issue of dominance in response to the women’s rights movement.

Although she finds the current state of Hollywood frustrating and struggles to find much choice of roles for herself, the 68-year-old is optimistic about the future.

“There’s so many great opportunities for women to enter different jobs, different enterprises,” she said. “But to rise, to get up to that top layer which they kinda still keep for themselves. There are always three women on a board, and then there are nine or 12 or 14 other people. Equal means equal. And if it starts at the top, none of these shenanigans would have filtered down and been tolerated.”

She continued to explain that there isn’t a “horrible plot” to keep women or minorities from the top positions in Hollywood, it is simply a case of “like hires like” and that needs to change.

“White hires white. A guy who wears his baseball cap backwards hires a guy who wears his baseball cap backwards. So, we have to encourage the people who are currently in power, who are of one gender, to open the door,” she explained.

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