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Gemma Styles: Where Has Daniel Radcliffe Been Hiding?

Woke bae.

I learned a term this week – “woke bae” – and it seems like Daniel Radcliffe might just be the latest one. While I might be catching up on my internet jargon, Dan’s very recently been enlightened with the very not-OK figures surrounding pay and gender, specifically in Hollywood (a.k.a. the film industry).

Has he been living under a rock? Or on some tropical island somewhere, with no wifi, avoiding the modern trappings of Instagram and hashtags and online petitions? To be fair, that actually sounds pretty relaxing, so maybe this is jealousy talking – but how has lovely Radders managed to escape this one?

When I first read this story I expected most of the reaction to be a mixture of frustration and incredulity – ‘OPEN YOUR EYES DAN’ – but his endearingly baffled reaction seems to have saved him from the jaws of social media death.

Speaking to the Australian Daily Telegraph, he said: “I had just f**king naively thought this was not an issue any more. Because how can this still be happening?”

To my ears, this is a perfect example of why there’s still plenty more talking to be done about the issue; after International Women’s Day last month, with what felt like a bigger than usual outpouring of rallying cries for equality, you’d half expect to be able to rest for a little while. Alright feminists/womanists/[insert inequality opposition of your preference]s, you’ve done your work, now off you pop for a cup of tea and a kit kat.

Absolutely bloody not.

With people like Daniel Radcliffe, who you’d probably expect to be aware of the problems (clearly Harry and Hermione haven’t been spending enough time together lately and isn’t that just heart-breaking?) only now waking up to the gender pay gap, it just goes to show how much work there still is to do to highlight this issue. Who else is there still to reach? If even the Hollywood set, the very epitome of Western culture, hasn’t reached information saturation then imagine all the other people around the world who still need a good talking to.

As Daniel says: “The thing I can’t help but think is: ‘Who? Who’s doing that? What guy is sitting in a studio somewhere thinking, ‘Let’s f**k the girls out of some money’?’”

Who indeed. Perhaps with some of his naiveté, I find it hard to imagine this scenario; it makes more sense to me that the pay grades and practices are so ingrained into the business that it’s continued unconsciously by the bigwigs. After all, who in their right mind is sitting down and saying that Jennifer Lawrence has to be paid less, compared to a male co-star? That’s not a rule!

So there we have it. Proof that there are still people wandering around in blissful ignorance about some of the biggest social issues of our time – and proof that we should keep talking about it. You never know who might be listening!

- Gemma Styles

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