Being a woman in any industry means dealing with sexist comments and unnecessary mansplaining. It takes a certain amount of restraint and poise to make it through a cringe-worthy conversation with a man who won't stop staring at your chest or questioning the validity of your talents because you're a woman.
In those tense moments, just remember that Dame Helen Mirren got through it, and you can, too.
The below video of a 1975 interview between Michael Parkinson and a 30-year-old Mirren has recently been recirculating on the web, and it's truly eye-opening. It should be required viewing for every woman. Consider this your handy guide to shutting down a sexist interviewer, courtesy of Mirren.
Parkinson not only refers Mirren as a "sexy" multiple times, but he can barely take his eyes off her chest throughout the entire interview. She handles herself very coolly, but you can tell that she is mentally clocking his casual sexism and callous remarks. It's clear that he does not consider her to be a "serious" actress (as he says in quotes), but rather a pretty young woman who also happens to have appeared in notable roles.
He asks Mirren about using her "equipment" (her figure) and whether she can be taken seriously because of it. His comments would be utterly unbelievable if they weren't recorded on video for the world to see.
Three decades later, Parkinson managed to get his head on straight in this interview with Mirren from 2007, pegged to her Oscar-winning performance in The Queen. Mirren took her chance to ask him about his sexist comments and tell him how inappropriate the whole experience was. "I hated you" she said, explaining why he comments were so sexist, both then and now.
Queen, indeed.
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