The much loved and admired actor, comedian, producer, director and writer Reese Witherspoon celebrates 25 years in the industry with a stunning speech for Glamour’s Women of the Year. And given the long-delayed national discourse on sexual discrimination within all industries, these words proven to be timeless.
Here is an excerpt from her speech, followed by a video excerpt. The full speech is broken down after the video.
Reese Witherspoon:
Ladies and Gentlemen we are in a cultural crisis. In every field, in every industry, women are underrepresented and underpaid in leadership positions. And the reason we’re talking about it tonight: Under 5% CEOs on the Fortune 500 list are women.
Only 19% of Congress are women.
No wonder we don’t have the healthcare we deserve, or paid family leave or have access to early childhood education. And that really worries me.
How can we expect legislation with our rights and our needs being preserved if we don’t have equal representation?
In this short excerpted clip of Witherspoon’s clip, she is introduced by fellow actor, comedian, producer and writer Goldie Hawn.
Below are excerpts from the full Reese Witherspoon speech.
“What do we do now?” Seriously, I’m not kidding, go back and watch any move and you will see this line over and over again. You’re going to see it now, I’m telling you. My daughter watched a movie last week and she goes, “Mom I heard that line!”
I love to ask questions, but it’s my most hated question, and I dread reading scripts that have no women involved in their creation, because inevitably I get to that part where the girl turns to the guy and she goes, “What do we do now?”
Now, do you know any woman in any crisis situation who has… (Crowd begins to roar) any woman in any crisis who has absolutely no idea what to do? I mean, don’t they tell women, they tell people in crisis, they tell children that if you’re in crisis — talk to a woman.
It’s ridiculous that women wouldn’t know what to do.
Witherspoon started visiting studios to bring attention to the current industry dilemma that there were not nearly enough good lead roles for women and this is a crisis. People would be aghast and say, "That’s horrible!” — and then they change the subject and move on with their dinner and move on with their lives. Reese says:
I could not change the subject. I couldn’t turn to a man and say, “What do we do now?” This is my life.
I’ve made movies all my life for 25 years since I was 14-years-old.
It was time to turn to myself and say, “What are we going to do now?” And the answer’s very clear. My mother, who’s here tonight — very strong, smart southern woman said to me, “If you want something done, Honey, do it yourself?
So she started he won Production Company, Pacific Standard Films with a mission to tell stories about women. She was nervous, spending her own money, which everyone in the business had always told her, “Don’t spend your own money on anything.” She was warned if Pacific Standard films ever did find some good scripts about women, the company wouldn’t make it past a few years because, “there just wasn’t a market for buying female-driven material.”
“But like Elle Woods, I do not like to be underestimde set out to prove them wrong. They found stories that were written by women and both ended up on the New York Times bestseller’s list in 2012. One was called “Gone Girl” and the second was called, “Wild.” So they made those two films and combined they grossed half a billion dollars worldwide (applause). She ads the company got three Academy Award nominations for women in acting performances. At the time of this speech, Witherspoon talked about filming five more best selling books including Big Little Lies which has gone on to sweep a plethora of industry awards and had 25 films in development and three television shows.
“And the all have female leads of different ages, different races and different jobs. Some are astronauts, some are soldiers, some are scientists — one is even a Supreme Court Justice.
And they’re not just good or bad. They’re bold and haunted and dangerous and triumphant like the women we meet every single day of our lives. “
Witherspoon’s says her company is not thriving because it feels good to do; it’s thriving because female driven films work. She names other films like Trainwreck, Spy, Pitch Perfect 2, Cinderella, The Hunger Games franchise that has made over $2.2 billion dollars worldwide.
“Films with women at the center are not just public service announcements. They are big time, bottom line enhancing moneymaking commodity.
Ladies and Gentlemen we are in a cultural crisis. In every field, in every industry, women are underrepresented and underpaid in leadership positions. And the reason we’re talking about it tonight: Under 5% CEOs on the Fortune 500 list are women.
Only 19% of Congress are women.
No wonder we don’t have the healthcare we deserve, or paid family leave or have access to early childhood education. And that really worries me.
How can we expect legislation with our rights and our needs being preserved if we don’t have equal representation?
So here’s my hope: If you’re in politics, the media, the tech industry, working as an entrepreneur, or teacher or construction worker or caregiver — you know the problems we are all facing, and I urge each one of you to ask yourselves…‘What do we do now?’ And that’s a big question. What is it in your life that you think you cannot accomplish? Or what is it that people have said that you cannot do?
Wouldn’t it feel really good to prove them all wrong? (Applause)
Because I believe ambition is not a dirty word. It’s just believing in yourself and your abilities.
Witherspoon concludes:
Imagine this:
What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own ability? To be a little bit more ambitious? I think the world would change.
Thank you.”
Thank you, Reese Witherspoon and to all the women paving the way for future generations. In unity is how we make it work.
Update:
Wednesday, Dec 27, 2017 · 7:30:46 AM +00:00 · Leslie Salzillo
She’s right. Almost every movie I’ve watched since reading Reese Witherspoon’s full speech above, shows a woman or girl somewhere in the move ask: “So what do we do now?” Cheers to Witherspoon for exposing this ridiculous Hollywood social and sexist blunder—and for working to change it.