The Unforgiving Minute By Laurie Penny

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One course reading that had direct tie-ins to the film within the first few scenes was “The Unforgiving Minute” by Laurie Penny. Her essay focuses on the “so-called “revelations” about endemic male sexual aggression in Hollywood, in the media, in politics, in the tech world, and in communities large and small,” or more simply, on the sexual misconduct and assault prevalent in multiple faucets of American culture. Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, Al Franken, Matt Laur, are just a few of the men who have finally been held accountable for their actions in the past, ranging from inappropriate touching to forming sex cults where they brainwash and hold women hostage (yes, I am looking into your dark, twisted soul, R. Kelly). Sexual misconduct and …show more content…

to face his despicable sexual misconduct with Dora Lee and other women in the office. The three main characters—Dora Lee, Violet Newstead, Judy Burnlee—take him hostage after he tries to blackmail them. Restrained by BDSM items, an obvious reference to his former use of power to sexually abuse women, Franklin Hart Jr. is finally held accountable for his actions. Dora, Violet, and Judy bring awareness to “structural violence … [and] a culture that decided long ago that women’s agency and dignity were worth sacrificing to protect the reputation of powerful men and the institutions that enabled their entitlement,” one of the primary concepts Penny focuses on in her essay dedicated to challenging us to look at our society and demand better for individuals who have been subjected to sexual misconduct and …show more content…

In 9 to 5, women have finally had success in shoving their way into the workplace, after years of legislature that allowed for women to be fired if they were married or became pregnant with no additional rationale necessary for their termination. And although some of those discriminatory systems were still in place in the 1980s, women had more leverage to maintain their jobs and hold onto their professional

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