Actress Mila Kunis has something to say about sexism in Hollywood.
The actress wrote an essay about gender inequality in the entertainment industry for Medium, which was re-published on A Plus, her husband Ashton Kutcher's website. In the post, Kunis took to task the slow progress being made towards gender equality in the workplace. She cited two examples of extreme sexism in her own career.
"It's what we are conditioned to believe — that if we speak up, our livelihoods will be threatened; that standing our ground will lead to our demise. We don't want to be kicked out of the sandbox for being a 'bitch,'" she asserted.
Kunis described one instance in which a director told her she would never work again after she refused to pose partially nude on a magazine cover to promote a movie. "I said 'no.' And guess what? The world didn't end. The film made a lot of money and I did work in this town again, and again, and again," she said.
Even after starting her own production company, Kunis still had to prove to her male counterparts that she could hold her own in showbiz. In yet another example of Hollywood male cluelessness, the actress was referred to in an email from a producer as "Ashton Kutcher's wife and baby momma."
"He reduced my value to nothing more than my relationship to a successful man and my ability to bear children. It ignored my (and my team's) significant creative and logistical contributions," Kunis said.
Still she ended strong, reminding Hollywood that she hadn't and would never back down.
"I will work in this town again, but I will not work with you."
You can read her full letter here.