Dustin Hoffman on playing a woman in Tootsie (1982)
“If I was going to be a woman, I would want to be as beautiful as possible. And they said to me, ‘Uh, that’s as beautiful as we can get you.’ And I went home and started crying to my wife, and I said, ‘I have to make this picture.’ And she said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because I think I’m an interesting woman when I look at myself on screen, and I know that if I met myself at a party, I would never talk to that character because she doesn’t fulfill, physically, the demands that we’re brought up to think that women have to have in order for us to ask them out.’ She says, ‘What are you saying?’ and I said, ‘There’s too many interesting women I have not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed.’ It was not what it felt like to be a woman. It was what it felt like to be someone that people didn’t respect, for the wrong reasons. I know it’s a comedy. But comedy’s a serious business.”
This is a man in tears when he came up against the experience of being a woman in a misogynist society, and realizing what it means for them, and for him, too.
I’m now convinced that every man should have to live as a woman for a week. Maybe then we’d be able to kick this misogynistic bullshit in the ass and send it off to die.
I have always liked Dustin Hoffman. But this is like, next level social awareness and I am honestly floored by the depth of this response.
Jillian Holtzmann taught me to embrace and not be ashamed of my sexuality. Furiosa taught me that I don’t have to fit into this world in order to be seen and heard. Wanda Maximoff taught me that no matter how scared I am someone is always going through the same thing. Ellen Ripley taught me to be my own woman and stand up for myself when faced with a challenge. Sarah Connor taught me that a woman can be strong and still be emotional. Wonder Woman taught me to respect myself in a society that might not always respect me. Mako Mori taught me to keep fighting even if it feels like there is nothing left to fight for. Rita Vrataski taught me to not take any shit from anybody. Rey taught me that even in dark times I can always find hope. Don’t ever doubt the strength of fictional characters and the power they hold. These fictional women have taught me everything about myself and who I can strive to be, and I know I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for strong women everywhere giving me and every woman and girl in the world the opportunities that we deserve.
If I may I add: Buffy taught me it is okay to make mistakes. Hermione taught me not to worry about what others thought. She-Hulk taught me I could be kickass and still feminine. Xena taught me it was alright to embrace my darkness. Jessica Jones taught me that even the worst of times do not define me.
Women firefighters douse flames during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Oh hay look women of colour were an integral part of the ‘cool’ part of history too, how about that. They were like. Doing stuff that supposedly only heroic white dudes had done. That makes women valid participants in collective history now, right? Right? This is in high school history books now, right? Right? Huh?
It reminds me of that one famous painting/sculpture of the soldiers raising the flag
I was looking at this again and thinking about how much I love that while each of these images evokes royalty, each is a very different type. The each give me a different impression:
Beyoncé
– The Empress – At the height of her power, her throne is unassailable, though many try. Strength in every step, her court always in attendance. You will never see the strike coming.
Rihanna – The Child Queen – She crowns herself, trembling but determined, still mourning the things she has lost but refusing to be cowed. No one will claim her suffering but herself.
Nicki – The Anointed Queen – She rules by divine right, lit with a power that is as much spiritual as earthly. Her subjects are her children and she will raise them up, inspiring them with their own worth.
Janelle – The Warrior Queen – She leads a band of poet-warriors, a queendom both young and aggressive, but full of hope for a future that she will fight for, unafraid.
Beyoncé – The Empress: Capricorn, Virgo, Leo
Rihanna – The Child Queen: Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus
Nicki – The Anointed Queen: Cancer, Sagittarius, Libra
Janelle – The Warrior Queen: Gemini, Aquarius, Aries
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