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Actor, producer Mila Kunis pens open letter about sexism, since it's a plague nobody can escape

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:45 IST

We all know who Ashton Kucher is, right? When you hear his name you'd immediately think Hollywood star, producer and wannabe TV actor. Never would you ever add 'husband of Mila Kunis and daddy to her kids', when you finish that sentence.

Why? Because he's achievements have little to do with his personal life. Strangely though, this lovely logic goes for a artistic gymnastic-level toss when it comes to introducing women. They are mothers. They are wives. They are daughters. Or so-and-so's sister. Rarely are they just who they are - a successful woman without a familial tag.

Mila finally succumbed to the pressure of dealing with humans on a daily basis, and penned a scathing open letter.

The letter addresses a successful anonymous producer (who may or may not be a husband and daddy) who declared that her career would be over after she refused to shoot semi-naked for the promotion of a film.

She writes:

"You'll never work in this town again." A cliché to be sure, but also what a producer threatened when I refused to pose semi-naked on the cover of a men's magazine to promote our film. I was no longer willing to subject myself to a naïve compromise that I had previously been willing to. "I will never work in this town again??" I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career 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. What this producer may never realize is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace.

It's what we are conditioned to believe -- that if we speak up, our livelihoods will be threatened. Throughout my career, there have been moments when I have been insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on my gender.

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Kunis is 'done compromising' she says, and more importantly, she's 'done with being compromised'. No just a mother, a sister or a wife you guys. In a professional sphere, remember to address a woman by her age. Talk about her achievements. Discuss her plans of furthering her career. Her babies or the lack of them are not your concern.

First published: 3 November 2016, 6:03 IST