Hey hey! Happy last day before spring break! I hope you have a restful and rejuvenating break! After break we are at the home stretch and we will be done with our freshman year *cue the nostalgia*. But, before all of that, let’s get on to the blog.
The first time I was introduced to this actress was through a show called One Tree Hill and I actually hated her character. I thought she was aggressive and off-putting but, looking back, I think she may be my favorite character now. Her honesty and heart is something that remains constant throughout the show and it just goes to show how often strong women are often villainized in the media. Beyond being an actor, our woman of the week is a founding member of the TimesUp movement and host of Work In Progress Podcast, where she interviews powerful people like Gloria Steinem. She is challenging the problems in Entertainment industry as well as the flaws in the world as a whole.
Our woman is: Sophia Bush.
I admire Bush a lot because she is gutsy and is an active advocate for herself and for those who are misrepresented. She has been open about her experience with abuse on the set of One Tree Hill and Chicago PD from powerful men. One of the worst parts of those experiences that Bush emphasizes is that beyond the abuse, there were many bystanders who allowed this behaviors persist by not saying anything or turning a blind eye. Bush also cites that she tried to deal with the abuse by tolerating it, as she was tied up by a contract that prevented her from leaving, but she realized that she was “tolerating the intolerable” as she grappled with her mental state and living in the fear that her actions would affect the jobs of her friends on set (source). She decided to give the showrunners an ultimatum that she either gets to leave or makes her grievances public by writing an Op-ed for the New York Times. Chicago PD eventually let her leave but, Bush did not remain silent on the issue.
Though one would think that this bold move would make Bush gain respect from the public, it in fact brought in speculation and criticism. Instead of praising her courage, reporters decided to question the validity of her claim by asking why she waiting a year and half before expressing her situation during her time on Chicago PD. Bush responded in an instagram post by highlighting that people have not been listening if they claim that she had just begun to voice her discontentment (source). She pushes the naysayers to pay more attention to the women around them because, if they did, they would not be questioning their pain.
Beyond this, Bush is also involved in a really cool initiative called #NoHormonesPlease which “aims to encourage women to research what their birth control options are” (source). Also, she partnered with Always, a menstrual product company, to join their initiative entitled #EndPeriodPoverty which has a goal to raise awareness of how prevalent girls face the dilemma of having to miss school because they do not have adequate access to menstrual products. Always cites that 1 in every 5 girls in the US have missed school because they did not have the necessary products for their period (source).
Overall, Sophia Bush is someone who is a strong advocate and is conscious of her privilege, and because of that, wants to use her privilege to better someone who is being mistreated. I think I heard this in Ashley Graham’s Podcast, Pretty Big Deal, when Sophia Bush said that she is continually learning, by attending conferences or going to classes, because in order to be the best advocate you need to be informed about who and what you are representing.
And with that, that is the end! Have an amazing break guys!
Brianna Mitchell 🙂