#SophiaFeminism #OneTreeHill #ChicagoPD #TheGirlProject #TimesUp #BlackoutGoldenGlobes #DetroitBlows
Sophia Bush not only plays a feminist character on screen, but she is a feminist activist off screen as well. To start, Sophia defines feminism as not man-hating, but wanting equal opportunity for men and women. She wants to be judged on her work and not her appearance. She also wants to be equally compensated the same amount a man would get paid for a job. She also discusses that women should be able to be any person they want to be and not fit into a stereotypical gender box. She says women should be able to wear high heels but also wear motorcycle boots as well.
Sophia is very involved in various feminist organizations and activism within society. To start, Sophia spoke at the L.A. Women’s March. Sophia commended black women for speaking out and using their voices for change this year within the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Next, Sophia is a founding member of the “Times Up” movement to stop sexual harassment in the workplace. The "Times Up" movement started as an open letter signed by 300 women celebrities, including Sophia Bush. Sophia participated in the blackout statement created by "Times Up" at the Golden Globes, in which all women wore black dresses to stand for this cause. Female celebrities took control of the conversation and forced people to discuss sexual harassment in the workplace. Next, Sophia Bush is also an advisory board member of “The Girl Project.” This project supports charities for education for women by fighting off causes that prevent women from graduating. Some of these causes include poverty, child marriage, teen pregnancy and homelessness. “The Girl Project” also collaborated with EcoTools and they said for every tweet using #Mytruebeauty with @ecotools, $1 will be donated to “The Girl Project." Finally, Sophia Bush partakes in cofounding a salon called “Detroit Blows." “Detroit Blows” donates $1 from every hair blowout and a percentage of all sales to Detroit Grows, which empowers business women in Detroit to grow their businesses.
Another form of Sophia’s confident feminist activism occurs on Twitter. She tweets about feminist issues, including how wrong it is to advocate against equal pay for men and women. She also clarifies what the true definition of feminists are, including how women do not hate men, women, or sex. She clarifies women just want to get rid of double standards. She also states how women wanting equal rights is not starting a war, it is just common sense. Another thing she advocated for was how women should not have to feel unsafe in parking lots and men need to be held more accountable for their sexual assaults.
Sophia Bush also plays feminist characters on the television shows “One Tree Hill” and “Chicago P.D.” On “One Tree Hill,” her character, Brooke Davis, would support her female friends in pursuing their goals and not let boys define who her friends were. For example, she told her best friend Haley to not let her husband's basketball career define her and believe in herself and her music career. She also independently ran her own company without a man and it had the feminist name of “Clothes Over Bros." Next, Brooke supports body positivity by modeling a “zero is not a size” shirt in her fashion runway. She also focused on herself after her boyfriend cheated on her by winning student body president. In addition, Brooke admits her insecurities of not being good enough, which helps other women accept their flaws. It helps women realize that every woman has insecurities, even those who seem perfect and that they have it all. It will help one accept their insecurities and flaws and realize it is okay to not be perfect. Also, within Sophia’s character Erin Lindsay on Chicago P.D., she plays a strong cop. However, Sophia promotes in an interview that she does not want people to be surprised that women can play strong and emotional characters. She wants people to realize that both men and women can be strong, confident characters.
It is ironic that behind the feminist characters played on these T.V. shows, there is actually sexual harassment and assault happening behind the scenes. The showrunner and show creator of “One Tree Hill”, Mark Schwahn, was accused by 46 women of sexual harassment. Sophia and other “One Tree Hill” actresses stood behind the writer, Audrey Wauchope, who accused Schwahn on Twitter of sexual harassment. There was lots of inappropriate and unwanted touching and harassment by Schwahn. He stalked one girl in the show and would show up at her hotel room in the middle of the night. He would bang on her door until he got tired and would then leave. The girl had to switch rooms and have her boyfriend stay with her the next month. Also, Schwahn tried to convince another writer to not get married and to date him instead. Sophia even hit him when he grabbed her butt in front of six producers. Every woman needs to be conformational about sexual harassment like Sophia is so men know it is not acceptable. Sophia also faced sexual harassment on the set of “Chicago P.D” in a room full of men who did nothing about it. She was confrontational with her bosses about going to the press if they did not resolve this. Therefore, she left the show and told the press. She found out later that the NBC President, who was a female at the time, was never alerted of this issue. She says she would have let Sophia break her contract, as she did so anyway.
What inspires me most about Sophia Bush is how she chooses her platform for such good in the world. It is also inspiring that with a full time acting career, she is able to be involved in a plethora of organizations. If everyone took time out of their busy schedules to advocate for justice for women, imagine the change in the world we could see. Another thing Sophia reminds us is to always confront sexual harassment head on. If someone sexually harasses someone, that person needs to go straight to the authority figure or confront the abuser personally. We must not accept this disrespect as women and we must teach others what is and is not okay.
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