As if you needed another reason to worship the talented Emily Blunt, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about her upcoming film The Girl on the Train, Blunt discussed the double standards women face and her words will make women everywhere want to high-five her, hug her, and cheers her over a bottle of champagne. While discussing the film, which is based on the book of the same name, Blunt said she appreciates how the story and her character open up the conversation of how women are far too often treated differently than men.
For those unaware, in The Girl on the Train Blunt plays Rachel, the lead protagonist who is an alcoholic. Blunt told THR that not only will her character probably be viewed differently than an alcoholic leading man, but that real-life women who drink, just for fun, are far too often shamed and treated opposite of a man for their actions. She explained,
"A woman is a drunk, a whore, whereas the guy's like a partyer, a player. I've been around both women who drink too much and guys who drink too much and it's just as ugly on the guys. It makes me crazy."
It also "makes me crazy" whenever a woman and man say the same exact thing or act the same exact way, but garner very different reactions. Immediately, the woman always seems to be picked apart and hounded, whereas the man seems to be praised with his actions being brushed to the side. Blunt's lesson on double standards didn't stop there, as she added,
"I don't think that women should be seen as any less sexual than a guy. And maybe she doesn't want to settle down, and that's OK. And maybe she doesn't want a kid, and that's OK. And she's just happy playing the field. There's so much judgment with women."
Preach, Emily. Preach. It's totally fine and "normal" for a woman to be sexual and to be seen as sexual. There is nothing wrong with a woman loving sex and wanting to have sex just as much, if not more, than a guy. And if a woman likes to have sex, she should not be slut-shamed for it.
As for women who don't want to get married or have kids, they certainly shouldn't be criticized for it at all. It's their life and they can live it as they see fit. Not all women are interested in becoming wives and mothers and it's sad that when a woman goes against that they are immediately judged. Believe it or not, but women are so much more than marriage and babies. They can have just as successful and fulfilling lives without those two things.
I thank Blunt for being open about double standards and showing how it's time for women to no longer be unfairly judged.
