Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington blasts film industry for 'sexism towards men'
Actor Kit Harrington slammed the film industry for "sexism towards men" in an interview with The Sunday Times, accusing the system of "a double standard."
"If you said to a girl, 'Do you like being called a babe?' and she said, 'No, not really,' she'd be absolutely right," Harrington said. "I like to think of myself as more than a head of hair or a set of looks."
Some thought the Game of Thrones actor's comments came across as tone-deaf. "I think what he is actually describing is feeling objectified, which certainly isn't a phenomenon belonging to a single gender," Aimée Lutkin observed for Jezebel.
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Still, "it's demeaning," Harrington said. "Yes, in some ways you could argue I've been employed for a look I have. But there's a sexism that happens towards men. There's definitely a sexism in our industry that happens towards women, and there is towards men as well ... At some points during photoshoots when I'm asked to strip down, I felt that."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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