Eva Longoria talks about women’s under-representation

Speaking at web summit conference in Dublin, actress Eva Longoria talked about issues that concern women. She believes women are easily stereotyped and labelled. She said, “People tend to put women in boxes: She’s sexy, she’s ambitious, she’s smart, she’s a mom ... but women are complex, and we are always underestimated. Women are all of those things at the same time."

She added that women are underrepresented in film and television, and one of the major reasons for this is that not many women are behind the camera; there are very few female producers and directors. Because of this she feels women are either cast as ‘the virgin or the whore’.

Currently producing two shows, Longoria says she might be back on television next year. She told Indie Wire, which declared her the ‘feminist of the day’: “Right now, I’m producing and directing a lot: I’m behind the scenes, behind the camera, which I’m enjoying. And I probably will be returning to television next year in a new show. I don’t know what it is yet, but stay tuned.”

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Talking about her previous show ‘Desperate Housewives,’ she said that it was one of the first shows where most of the cast was comprised of women over 40. Having done her Master’s thesis on Latino women in STEM fields, Longoria took the opportunity to talk about the existing sexism in these fields as well.

She added, “There’s a conversation to be had on stages like this or world stages, about gender rules and women’s identity… Sheryl Sandberg’s book talks about those things - ‘Women can have it all!’ and I’ve been told that, but women can’t have it all at the same time.”

After stating that that women launched businesses at much higher rate, but often face troubles finding investors; she urged women to work as mentors and help the ones starting out.

ORIGINA SOURCE: Indie Wire

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/hollywood-feminist-of-the-day-eva-longoria-20141105