Metaphor For Sexism? Cannes Film Festival Event Won't Admit Women Wearing Flat Shoes

[kpete]

The Cannes Film Festival is reportedly not allowing women into screenings if they’re wearing flat shoes. I’m not sure I could’ve come up with a better metaphor for sexism in the film industry if I was really, really trying. If you wrote this into a novel about sexism in the film industry, it would seem heavy-handed. “Too much,” your editor would say. “Tone it down.”

Flatgate erupted on Twitter this week after several women were apparently turned away from a red carpet screening of Cate Blanchett’s new movie Carol because they were in the demon flats. According to Screen Daily, the screening was on a Sunday night and the women weren’t exactly wearing Keds:

Multiple guests, some older with medical conditions, were denied access to the anticipated world-premiere screening for wearing rhinestone flats.

The festival declined to comment on the matter, but did confirm that it is obligatory for all women to wear high-heels to red-carpet screenings.

Obligatory, huh. Asif Kapadia, director of the new Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, confirmed that his wife, too, nearly missed a screening because of her shockingly non-vertical footwear:


http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-women-denied-palais-entry-for-wearing-flats/5088395.article
http://jezebel.com/cannes-film-festival-wont-admit-women-wearing-flat-shoe-1705462774

[el_bryanto]

1. that is a pretty good metaphor - and pretty awful treatment

Cannes is like the Oscars of film festivals - old fashioned with old fashioned tastes, but clinging to relevance as best it can.

Bryant

[LanternWaste]

6. No doubt it will also keep those trying to minimize it busy, too.

No doubt it will also keep those trying to minimize it busy, too.

[wheniwasincongress]

7. This is actually an important issue

and says a lot about women's standing...wear the shoes that make you look thinner and taller, that are difficult to walk in and impossible to run in, that permanently ruin your feet, while men are free to run around in comfortable flat shoes...

[wheniwasincongress]

11. This isn't about "fashion inconveniences"

did you even read my post?

[seabeyond]

28. you are very clear, you are never "concerned" about womens issues. 100% consistent on that.

[davidn3600]

31. So it's men's fault that women drive their own sense of fashion?

Do you really think most men in the modern world give a crap what kind of shoes you wear?

You will get far more criticism from other women than from men concerning your fashion choices. That's not the fault of men.

If a woman tells her boyfriend that she's never wearing heels or make-up again...the boyfriend is likely to shrug his shoulders. Most guys don't understand why you wear that stuff anyway.

This was a private event that has a right to enforce any dress code they want. Don't like it, then don't go. I've avoided places that had dress codes because I didn't feel like getting dressed up.

Don't want women to wear heels anymore...change the fashion. But good luck. Some of the women I've known protect their shoe collection more than a southern redneck protects his guns.

[seabeyond]

33. lordy can you do a better job just pulling a story out of the ass to argue?

[Texasgal]

39. Christ on a pogo stick!

Who has said that???

No one here on reporting on Cannes has said it's the "man's fault" !!!! Sensitive are we?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

44. Wearing makeup and wearing heels are not comparable.

You wear heels, you can sprain your ankle, fall down and break a leg, hurt your feet permanently, things like that. You are unbalanced and unstable in heels and you cannot run. It's a health hazard and a danger to your safety.

Wearing makeup does not hurt and may clog your pores, but it's not going to do any serious damage. It might take a while to put on and take off, but it doesn't hurt. And it may provide a psychological boost if the woman feels better because she looks better.

[tkmorris]

34. You know how some folks say "not all men"?

You are part of the other group. The "some men" that "not all men" are like. I am embarrassed for you.

[roody]

24. and make your butt stick out.

[cali]

3. wow. couldn't be more blatantly sexist if they spent a month of Sundays

working on it.

[MADem]

4. Metaphor? That IS sexism!

I guess that Liberté, égalité, fraternité shit is only for the "fraternity" boys at Cannes.

I think the US ought to boycott them until they change the rule -- or make it gender neutral, requiring EVERYONE, male or female, to wear the fucking shoes.

We're the ones with all the good movies, anyway. They'd fold like a cheap chair without our input. I think the city of Cannes would be pissed as hell to lose all that income from coverage of the event, too.

[wheniwasincongress]

5. Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild, said

“I honestly think the real liberation of women is profoundly connected to the shoes we wear,” Strayed says. “Until we as a gender refuse to wear any shoe that would be uncomfortable to walk a mile in, we’re perfectly screwed.”

[Warpy]

9. I think she's absolutely right

I actually told people I went into nursing so I could work nights in comfortable shoes. It wasn't all that far from the truth.

Men who insist on heels can wear the fucking things, themselves.

If Cannes refused to let a few female VIPs in for wearing flats, then Cannes is going to find itself boycotted by all but the up and coming starlets who are desperate to be seen.

[2theleft]

37. That was awesome!

"this is harder than football practice"...

[Skittles]

46. I absolutely agree

it makes me cringe when I hear women proudly obsessed with ridiculous shoes - it is NOTHING to be proud of

[Journeyman]

10. A documentary on Amy Winehouse? That could be interesting . . .

Quite depressing, as well. But my, what a talent.

[treestar]

12. What the heck?

LOL why do they even care? What difference does it make to whoever runs that festival?

[Sobax]

13. A dress code isn't sexist

The event organizers had a duty to inform everyone in advance though.

[BreakfastClub]

15. Bullshit. This dress code is obviously sexist. nt

[Sobax]

16. Is it sexist to require a man to wear a bowtie to a formal event?

[justiceischeap]

18. No, because a woman wouldn't be excluded from wearing a tux and bow tie

from a formal event (unless you're in the Bible belt).

[Sobax]

19. Ok, so if I went to an event in the Bible belt

And I was excluded from wearing a dress and high heels, while the women were excluded from wearing a tux and bowtie, that would be sexism?

I never realized how oppressed I was.

[justiceischeap]

20. No, that would be transphobia. nt

[Texasgal]

42. Does a bowtie

cause pain? Does it cause issues with your back?

[justiceischeap]

17. A dress code is sexist if that code keeps either gender

from wearing what the other gender wears (flat shoes). So either all the men have to wear heels too or the dress code IS sexist.

[davidn3600]

22. So if the dress code says all men must wear a tie and a black coat...

That would be sexist too, right? Since it doesn't require women to wear a tie and a coat?

Men and women don't wear the same style of clothes...especially when it comes to formal wear.

[justiceischeap]

27. Jane Campion -- only female winner of Cannes Film Festival

Ellen Degeneres hosting the Oscars


Angelina Jolie @ BAFTA's


Brigitte Bardo circa 1961 lest you think this is a modern trend


Kim Novak at 2014 Oscars


Full Definition of SEXISM

1: prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially : discrimination against women
2: behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex

Women are "allowed" to wear "masculine" formal wear to formal events, although, the exception does seem to be heels. I'm sure if a man wanted to wear a dress to a formal event he would be "allowed" to do that as well. It's not about dress codes it's about perpetuating the stereotype that a woman has to wear heels with formal attire--when, in fact, she doesn't have to. It's some antiquated ideal that heels MUST be worn with a gown that is at issue here.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

43. The only picture with definitely comfortable shoes is Ellen's picture.

We can't tell with Bardot. The shoes she is wearing may have a low heel. They may not. They are pointy. Depending on your foot shape, that could be comfortable or uncomfortable. The others are heels. We can't see Kim Novak's feet so we don't know what she had on.

Jane Campion and Angelina Jolie have heels on that I could not and would not try to walk in.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

26. The code is sexist because it requires women

to wear shoes that can be painful and can damage your feet.

If the festival requires dress clothes for men and women, I don't consider that sexist, but surely there are very dressy flats that women can wear? Our local Dillards has some gorgeous flats; in fact, I know members of a wedding party who chose to go with the flats so they could dance all night and they all looked beautiful. It's Texas, so flats with bling are readily available.

[seabeyond]

29. ha ha. fug academics, per thread talking sociologist. what problem with white male demographics?

sexism? what? where? no such thing.

what a treat you are.

are you new here, or have you been to du before? you jump right into the fray of things.

[gollygee]

30. It absolutely can be, and in this case it absolutely is.

Where in God's name do you get the idea that dress codes can't be sexist? They very frequently are.

[kcr]

32. Let me guess. You don't give dress codes much consideration. n/t

[laundry_queen]

38. LOL.

Yet always enough consideration to chime in on these threads.

[lostnfound]

45. *Medical condition* .. not everyone CAN wear heels

Dress codes should not assume everyone is in peak physical condition. I wear heels everyday but for four months last year it was absolutely. impossible for me to do so, due to a foot condition, and this year I had two weeks of leg cramps that also made it impossible.

[AtomicKitten]

14. Yikes.

I'd be interested in seeing what the rest of their dress code looks like.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. That's no metaphor for sexism, it's an example of sexism. And a pointless revolting example it is.

It's fucked up. Lots of walking, loitering and climbing of steps, lots of sitting in screenings in the dark. None of that is the sort of thing anyone needs heels for. Jesus.

[wheniwasincongress]

25. You can tell

who the clueless and careless men are in this thread. They probably also think loads of woman aren't wearing makeup when in actuality, they are clearly wearing makeup.

[roody]

23. Women must be kept at a physical disadvantage at all times!!!

[Jim Lane]

35. Now that the policy has gotten this attention, it will probably be gone in a year or two.

They presumably enacted the dress code because they wanted to maintain an image of glamor at the screenings, and their time-honored (i.e., ossified) idea of glamor included women in heels.

My guess, though, is that the negative effect of allowing women in flats will, in their eyes, be less than the negative effect of all the publicity. They'll realize that they can relax the dress code and still have quite a few women choosing to wear heels.

[seabeyond]

40. i think so too. hence the reason to never shut up, lol. speaking up is a good thing.

it makes this look so very very silly.

[aikoaiko]

36. Its silly, its sexist, but its France.

[mythology]

41. It's easy for me to say this as my career will never be dependent upon such things,

but they should really refuse to go. Heels are archaic in my opinion.

[mnhtnbb]

47. Rest of the dress code? Here's a photo of Cate attending the screening

of her new film. Makes you wonder if she had to stand up to watch!






And Rooney Mara, Todd Haynes and Cate Blanchett pose for the press photographers during the 'Carol' photocall at the Cannes Film Festival
Picture: Matt Baron/BEI/REX Shutterstock