I debated over whether or not to write a fashion review for this year's Golden Globes red carpet. After all, the entire point of everyone wearing black was to turn the focus away from fashion (clearly, some of the celebrities missed that part of the point) and onto gender issues (including sexual harassment and wage disparity). So instead of discussing the gowns, I'm going to discuss the guests.
In case you missed it, eight celebrities opted to bring an activist as their guest, using their red carpet interview to discuss the issue the activist focuses on rather than to talk about fashion or film. If, like me, you were not familiar with some of these activists, here is a little more about each of them.
Marai Larasi (guest of Emma Watson)
Larasi is the executive director of
Imkaan, an organization based in the UK which addresses violence against minority women and girls. Imkaan's international focus includes a program called "Implementing Norms, Changing Minds," which aims to end violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Imkaan works to change cultural norms at both a regional and a national level. On the red carpet, Marai said, “There is a wall of silence around violence against women and girls...We don't want to create hierarchies.”
Tarana Burke (guest of Michelle Williams)
Burke is the senior director of
Girls for Gender Equity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting "the physical, psychological, social and economic well-being of girls, women and ultimately the entire community." GGE works to promote education, organization, and physical fitness programs to encourage young women to develop strength, skills, and self-sufficiency. Burke is also the founder of the #MeToo movement, in 2006. Williams commented, "Because of the work Tarana is doing, we can live in a different world."
Saru Jarayaman (guest of Amy Poehler)
Jayaraman is an advocate for workplace justice for restaurant workers. She is the co-founder and co-director of the
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and Director of the
Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley. She tweeted that she attended the Golden Globes "in honor of the women servers, bussers, bartenders, runners, cooks, & hosts who experience the highest rates of sexual harassment of any industry in the country."
Ai-jen Poo (guest of Meryl Streep)
Poo is the director of the
National Domestic Workers Alliance and the co-director of
Caring Across Generations, organizations which support and protect working conditions for in-home workers such as nannies, home healthcare workers, and housecleaners, many of whom are women of color or recent immigrants. In her red carpet interview, Poo stated, "We all deserve workplaces where we’re safe and our work is valued and we can live and work with dignity."
Monica Ramirez (guest of Laura Dern)
Ramirez is the co-founder and president of the board of
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of women farmworkers in the US. Ramirez is a civil rights attorney, public speaker, and author who focuses on gender equity, specifically on behalf of Latina and immigrant women, including ending gender based violence in the workplace and closing the gender wage gap. As part of her red carpet interview, she stated, “Farmworker women pick and plant the food that we eat and have a long history of combating sexual violence... We stand with them and we lend them our power and strength. Part of our work as an organization is to fight for gender equality across all lines.”
Rosa Clemente (guest of Susan Sarandon)
Clemente is a political activist, community organizer, and independent journalist, and the Green Party's 2008 nominee for Vice President. She focuses on political prisoners, voter engagement, and Puerto Rican independence. Clemente used her red carpet interview to focus on the plight of the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, reminding listeners that "Half of the people on the island are still without power...and ninety percent don't have access to clean water." Sarandon commented on the solidarity between the Hollywood community and farmworkers and other laborers, noting that the farmworkers had sent a letter to the Hollywood community saying they understood the sexual harassment issue, prompting Clemente to add, "Our sisterhood is strong."
Billie Jean King (guest of Emma Stone)
King, one of the more recognizable guests on the red carpet, has been known as an advocate for women's rights since the 1973, when she beat tennis great Bobby Riggs in the much-touted "Battle of the Sexes." King founded the
Women's Tennis Association that same year. Stone was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of King in the film "The Battle of the Sexes." King stated on the red carpet, “Every generation has to fight for equality and it’s now Emma’s turn with her generation... It’s gotta stop, it’s gotta stop now. And we have to help each other and it’s everybody, all genders together.”
Calina Lawrence (guest of Shailene Woodley)
Lawrence, a member of the Suquamash tribe, is a singer and an activist for Native American treaty and water rights, and other causes. She travels the country as an advocate for the
Mni Wiconi (Water Is Life) movement, a cause which Woodley has also publicly protested to the point of being arrested herself. Prior to the red carpet, Woodley tweeted, “We stand with women across all nations & all walks of life, in solidarity to say TIMES UP on the imbalance of power that exists between men & women today."
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