I watched Thelma and Louise a while ago. (I can't believe I hadn't seen it before - I'll review it later probably, but I want to talk about something different now). It's one of those films that really sticks in your heart as a woman. (And if you're not a woman, it should stick in your brain, at the very least). It forcibly reminded me why I believe so strongly in gender equality, and why this issue will never not be something I care about.
There's a certain line of dialogue that I can't get out of my head. It's spoken right at the end, when Thelma and Louise, with their single revolver, are surrounded by dozens of armed policemen - totally outnumbered. To me, this line encapsulates the significance of the whole film, and its poignant relevance for the treatment of women worldwide:
"Place your hands in plain view! Any failure to obey that command will be considered an act of aggression against us."
Thelma and Louise is also a scathing indictment of the American police, but that's a whole other topic that I don't know enough about to weigh in on. But the injustice of the women's situation is well summed up in this line: even passive non-compliance on the part of the women will be interpreted as active aggression by the (all male) policemen. Thelma and Louise don't even have to do anything, at this particular point, to be in the wrong.
Think about it - what woman hasn't experienced this exact attitude when she challenges the status quo? Or even when she doesn't - sometimes you don't have to do anything, you just have to be a female human being wearing the clothes you picked out that morning, and you're somehow in the wrong
If I write a song with the lyrics "I've got ninety-nine problems but a douche-bag ain't one", a lot of people might think I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Why does she hate men? Angry feminists are so not sexy. (Like we care what they think). And so on. But if I complain to one of the men in my life that I think "I've got ninety-nine problems but a bitch ain't one" is misogynistic, I'd undoubtedly be told to lighten up. It's just a song. "Bitch" isn't really that derogatory. And so on.
By the way, if you're wondering (or if you still live under a rock), a 'feminist' is just someone who wants women to be treated as equal human beings. It's not complicated. I'm a feminist and I don't hate men, I like to shave my legs, and I've never burned a bra in my life. But actually, if I was to chain myself to railings for a hobby and tattoo "Fuck the Patriarchy" on my forehead, it wouldn't make the arguments I'm pointing out any less valid.
Every woman experiences this pervasive misogyny every time the old "Maybe we'd listen to feminists more if you weren't so angry" chestnut is dealt out. Actually, a lot of the time we're not angry, we're just concerned. But our reasonable objections are met with anger because we're challenging the status quo. Because we touch a nerve. Because you know we're right, but you don't want to think about it.
The highly symbolic demise of Thelma and Louise moved me more than I expected. These women are so totally at a disadvantage in their misogynistic world, that driving over the edge of the canyon (whether that's literal or figurative) is preferable to going back to a society that so totally devalues their very worth and existence.
And let's get be clear: women have a right to be angry. Not just for ourselves, but for other women, especially those who have far, far greater challenges than ourselves - women under Islamist state law who are owned, legally, physically, sexually, and in every other sense, by their male relatives; women in India and Asia who spend their whole short lives in sexual slavery; every female child who's aborted for no other reason than for being female; and the list goes on. It's right to be angry at injustice, in whatever form it appears. People used to be irritated when women got angry about the vote. Now it's the same when women discuss rape culture, or the wage gap, or the pervasive misogyny in music and film, etc.
It is right and appropriate to be angry at injustice. In fact, it's the only decent thing to do. It is not right to be angry at women who peacefully challenge misogyny. It is not right to be angry at people who are simply asserting their own opinions, their own minds, their own equality. That kind of anger simply enforces the status quo, which damages women and men alike. I can't stress that enough. By allowing injustice to continue, the male police officers in the film don't just degrade the humanity of the women they're oppressing. They diminish their own humanity too.
"Thelma, I'm not gonna make any deals."
And rightly so.
