Maisie Williams Stands Up For Herself Big Time

The fact that women are still often treated unfairly in the media probably isn't news to you, but that doesn't mean we should stop fighting for fair treatment. How many times have stories focused on what women look like instead of what they do or say? And now, I think it's safe to say a certain Game of Thrones actress feels the same way. Maisie Williams rewrote a headline that focused on what she was wearing instead of what she did at a charity banquet, reminding everyone what really matters about what she did over the weekend.

The event — the NPSCC Summer Masquerade Ball — was held in Bath, England on Saturday night to help prevent cruelty to children. It's an awesome cause and it seems like Williams is proud to support it, but that wasn't quite the focus of some of the coverage of her appearance. A headline from the Daily Mail reads, "Unveiled: Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams goes braless in sheer lace dress and quirky headpiece at charity masquerade ball," followed by photos and a story about her outfit. But being that Williams was there to contribute to such an important cause, that wasn't exactly the coverage she'd hoped to have gotten out of the event, so she wasted no time in rewriting the headline to better fit what she thought the real story was.

That does seem like a fair correction, and it's one I'm glad Williams made. Also, is it just me, or is it really upsetting that assuming someone isn't wearing a bra is appropriate for grabbing readers' attention? I can't blame her for not being a fan of this particular headline, especially when she was obviously there for a different purpose than showing off her dress. The takeaway here shouldn't be that she was wearing a "quirky headpiece." It should be her contribution to the NPSCC, and her outfit should just be a side note.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. The media does tend to focus on what women look like instead of their accomplishments, and the only way that's ever going to change is if people continue to speak out against it. It seems like a simple tweet, but it has the potential to become much more than that if Williams speaking out makes others want to speak out, too.

And this is why campaigns like "Ask Her More," which aims to encourage red carpet interviewers to ask female celebs about topics other than the clothes they're wearing, are so important. It's 2016, but sexist interviews aren't a thing of the past quite yet, so when headlines like this crop up, taking Williams' approach is the right thing to do.

It's awesome to see Williams stand up for herself like this, and maybe it will make everyone think harder about what's really important at events like these. What's important here isn't what Williams was wearing but that thanks to her and the other celebs who attended the ball, there are children living in terrible situations whose lives will be made easier. Can we, as a society, focus on that instead?