The red carpet can be a brutal place for women: their talent is put to one side and they are based entirely on the sum of their parts and ability to dress. This is what happened to Sarah Millican at last year’s BAFTA Awards.
“I’m sorry. I thought I had been invited to such an illustrious event because I am good at my job. Putting clothes on is such a small part of my day. They may as well have been criticising me for brushing my teeth differently to them” She wrote in her Radio Times Essay.
.@SarahMillican75 : #Twitter was a pin to my excitable Bafta balloon http://t.co/YN7ocUSiDh pic.twitter.com/EMMrfMfeIa
— Radio Times (@RadioTimes) May 15, 2014
Trolls on the internet attacked her red carpet look, calling it “disastrous” and “nana”-like. She was hurt but choose to respond and point out the sexism of a woman being judged on her appearance rather than celebrated for her achievements.
“I’m not a model (I’m a comedian), have never learnt how to pose on a red carpet (I’m a comedian) and I have pretty low self-esteem.”
She also had this to say about her John Lewis dress:
“Fancy expensive designer shops are out for me as I’m a size 18, sometimes 20, and I therefore do not count as a woman to them.”
“It was like a pin to my excitable red balloon. Literally thousands of messages from people criticising my appearance. I was fat and ugly as per usual. … I cried. I cried in the car.”
Then she got angry….
“Why does it matter so much what I was wearing? … I felt wonderful in that dress. And surely that’s all that counts.”
Cate Blanchett also got sick of the sexist double standards after the cameras kept scanning her up and down at this year’s SAG Awards. She asked, “Do you do that to the guys?”
Funnily, Millican, points out the sexism of the situation: “My husband wasn’t asked who he was wearing, which disappointed him. Mainly because he was dying to tell ANYONE he was wearing an Asda tux.”
Even better, Millican had this to say about the dress she wore:
“I made a decision the following day that should I ever be invited to attend the Baftas again, I will wear the same dress. To make the point that it doesn’t matter what I wear; that’s not what I’m being judged on.”