Is any one actually surprised that a sexist industry that relies upon, profits from sexist depictions of women should be rife with sexism and the sexual harassment of women?
It seems so.
The shocked reactions ricocheting across our airwaves and spilling down our social media feeds at the Weinstein sexual harassment and rape stories, remind me of the shocked reactions to the pornography stash found in the final hide out house of terrorist and leader of sexist religious cult Osama Bin Laden. You've got to remember, the whole premise of Osama Bin Laden's notion of women was based on their sexual value, it is hardly a surprise that he liked to objectify women, he had coded it into his belief system. He probably won many recruits upon just that ticket. The gross sexist stereotyping of women in film, where they are unlikely to be anything but the love interest, the person valued for their sex appeal, a token woman in narratives that are primarily about men, men's lives and what men do (things like kill people, rob banks, go to work, take drugs or whatever fascinating things they do do), is a practice that is bound to have a symbiotic relationship with the real life treatment of women in the vicinity. Or at least reflect a lack of imagination about what women are, which in turns signifies how the leaders in that industry might treat them.
There is a pattern here. If your religious cult or multi-million dollar industry has sexism as integral to its structure and functioning - you are probably going to be a sexist and treat women accordingly. If you are serious about wanting to tackle this issue in your industry or religious cult you are probably going to need to do some serious restructuring. Certainly you are going to need some new narratives and possibly you are going to need to find new and better ways to attract your audience. A good way to start is by talking to women, asking them about what they think and feel and better still, would be to employ them as writers and directors and produce their films.
It is no good worrying if you are a father of some girl children who has therefore suddenly awoken to the invidious nature of sexism. There is very little you can do, other than to teach them to distain men and boys and hope that this works as some kind of deterrent when it comes to considering who to work or sleep with later on in their adult lives. The people who really need to worry are the fathers of boys, who haven't as far as I have noticed written Weinstein open letters disclaiming what a terrible role model he is for their sons, how ashamed they are to share a gender with him and how yet again people of the male gender are doing awful things.
Sexism is not a problem that women need to deal with - though often it is a problem they have to suffer (and I do not doubt that women are also sexist) - it is primarily a problem that men have to deal with, so let us nip it in the bud, beginning with our sons, because what we really need is proper sex and relationship education.