Kit Harington spent much of 2015 complaining loudly about how hard it is to be beautiful and ripped. While I do think Kit is a good-looking guy, it grates on my last nerve to hear him go back to this in a new interview. I honestly thought he’d learned his lesson when he went on and on about how “ridiculous” and “offensive” it is to be called a “hunk.” In a new interview in The Sunday Times, Kit returns to his favorite subject: how difficult it is to be so beautiful, so muscular and so sexy. He says that he too is the victim of sexism.
“I think there is a double standard. You can’t pick and choose when you get it. If you said to a girl, ‘Do you like being called a babe?’ and she said, ‘No, not really,’ she’d be absolutely right.”
“I like to think of myself as more than a head of hair or a set of looks. It’s demeaning. Yes, in some ways you could argue I’ve been employed for a look I have. But there’s a sexism that happens towards men. There’s definitely a sexism in our industry that happens towards women, and there is towards men as well. At some points during photoshoots when I’m asked to strip down, I felt that.”
Harington even proclaimed he would leave acting if “I felt I was being employed just for my looks.”
While I think there’s a legitimate complaint/gripe at the core of what Kit has always said, he needs to stop going on and on about it. Is he objectified? Sure. Of course he is. Do photographers and directors want Kit to get shirtless and oiled up more than is really necessary? Yes. Does it make Kit feel cheap and demoralized when he’s treated like a beautiful idiot? Probably. But here’s the thing: Kit is called sexy/hunky/beautiful (how demoralizing!!) because he’s on a very popular show where many of the actresses have to get naked, simulate sex, simulate being raped and more. And he’s drawing an equivalency between what he faces and what they face. While Kit acknowledges that women have it hard, he’s basically elevating his gripe to an equal level as the systemic sexism that all women face on a daily basis. And in the world, actual victims of sexism are going to be female 99.99% of the time because the male gaze is a reflection of how men have centralized power at every level.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
This chapter of “Kit Harrington Says Words” brought to you by The House of Black & White and The Many-Faced God.
Lol, Lilacflowers. I think I love you!
ha ha ha thank you for that 🙂
Braavos!
epic LOL
Ha ha ha!! Thanks this made my morning!!
I’m dead lol
Jesus he’s so annoying.
Why did they cast him on GoT? He’s terrible as Jon Snow AND we have to listen to him speak.
I like him. I’m really not sure WHY I like him. Something about him has just grown on me.
Jon Snow is also a perpetual victim. He and Kit are well suited to each other.
He’s seriously the most annoying dude ever.
And I don’t find him anywhere near as good-looking as he finds himself.
Word.
Now if only Jason Momoa’s character can come back….
He’s a pretty boy, and that’s it. But sexy? Come on…
@Kitten, we were sat next to each other at a bar in Toronto a couple of years ago and he is a very small man very small. In real human flesh he looked like a doughy baby. Like the Pillsbury Dough boy but with glorious hair. I will say this, his hair, NOW that’s the real deal.
His hair should get it’s own show.
I’m with you kitten. Now I’ve never seen GoT so I’ve never seen him in action but the photos I’ve seen of him have me scratching my head every time he opens his mouth about this. I’ve seen better looking guys at the bar in my small hometown.
He suffers from a resting bi#ch face.
Yea Kit don’t worry, once GoT is over everyone will forget what a “hunk” you are..
Watch the episode of Graham Norton with him. He spends the whole time preening and fussing. He’s more obsessed with his appearance than anyone else. Also, seeing him on there made me realize how short he is. (In Candice Bergen’s voice) “He’s… a… hobbit.” It’s a tragedy the Tolkien films finished filming before he could get a role.
GoT made him pass for a hunk, and he should milk it as long as he can. Seeing him in Testament of Youth, a non-action part, his range is mostly just pouting and scowling.
Kit, I just got off the phone with The Universe, and it has asked me to ask you to STFU.
Don’t hate him because he’s beautiful.
He and Jessica Biel–too beautiful for Hollywood to take seriously.
–TheRealPinky
At least Jessica Biel is beautiful.
Kit will not have to worry about me offending him by calling him a hunk because he is not.
Don’t forget about the gorgeous 8 foot tall model Charlize Theron! None of them can catch a break can they??
Respectfully disagree – do not find Biel beautiful. Pretty, sure.
He needs to shut up about it. He sounds whiny. And don’t his cast mates tease him about being super vain? He loves how beautiful he is.
I think I heard this too. I believe there was a line in the first season when he, Robb and Theon are getting cleaned up for King Robert’s arrival and Robb says something about watching the hair that Jon doesn’t like it when they touch his hair. And the producers played a joke on him that Jon would be horribly disfigured and he was upset about it.
Honestly, I don’t think Kit’s that great of an actor and not the best looking guy that has ever been on GoT (just off the top of my head I’d say Robb, Khal Drogo, Jaime Lannister, Jaqen H’gahr, Daarios 1&2, Harry Lloyd, Loras, guy who briefly played Arthur Dayne are all way more attractive than Kit and most of them are better actors too).
His comments kind of lose steam for me when they are trying to sell his play that he struts around half naked…so…there’s that.
You forgot Gendry. Everyone forgets Gendry.
😢
The Sword of the Morning was GORGEOUS. Thanks for reminding me of that.
Don’t forget Ser Jorah! Iain Glen can get it everyday and twice on Sundays. The voice is a bone-melting bonus.
OMG @ Arthur Dayne! The Sword of my Morning. I wish you good fortune in the wars to come baby!
He’s dumb is the problem. I watch GoT and find him so blah. He always looks worried.
I think he always looks like he just smelt a really bad eggy fart.
OMG you totally made my entire day!
Ah the Joey Tribbiani fart acting school.
I hear it’s right up there with the Lee Strasberg Institute.
I think he always looks like someone just kicked his puppy.
Oh, do shut up, dear. I’m sorry that you don’t like being objectified because of your looks. Let’s talk when you start having your body groped and ogled, you make less money than a woman doing the same job, you’re threatened with job loss if you don’t have sex with your employer, medical tests are primarily done on the opposite sex so you die unnecessarily, people judge you for working when you have children, you’re very likely to be raped or beaten in your lifetime, you’re criticized for aging as if it was your choice, and people call you a slut for being sexual. Until then, recognize your privilege and stuff a sock in your whining because I, for one, am just a little tired of it.
And if raped and beaten you are asked what you were wearing or doing to bring violence and violation upon yourself, that is if you are even believed.
All this. All day.
–TheRealPinky
Very well said
Thank you
This! Thank you!
Stop your whining and crying pretty boy.
GNAT, you are my new heroine.
Exactly!!!!
You are so right on with this comment though. High Fives
I’m just going to copy this, and start pasting it on Facebook in response to every mansplainer telling me how the War on Women isn’t a thing. I’ll give you credit, GNAT.
And the church says Amen.
In the week where Amber Heard has been dragged for daring to be the least bit negative about being beaten up by a rich and powerful actor, your comment is perfect. Really cheered me up when I just wanted to scream.
The Gospel According to GoodNamesAllTaken: You can’t be a victim of sexism unless you are the victim of the MOST sexism.
Was anybody ’round here telling Jennifer Lawrence to “shut up” when she complained about her pay on American Hustle (even though, on a per-day basis, she was easily the highest paid actor on that film)?
He needs to stop. He doesn’t realize how lucky he even has it on multiple levels—you can bet if a woman complained as much as he has she’d be dragged hardcore through the press. Not to mention all the women on the show are way more objectified than he ever has been.
Alfie Allen was abused and raped on the show, and he seems to be nothing but lovely.
I wonder how Sophie Turner and Emilia Clarke feel, having to be raped on the show and having to strip down on the regular, hearing him share this nonsense.
I would like to offer Kit some much-needed mental respite: I don’t think you’re attractive at all. Seriously, at ALL.
You’re welcome. Now please STFU.
He really doesn’t know shit.
And it’s a wrap! Thank you Kaiser.
It seems to me thou protest too much. He’s not unattractive, but hardly a heart stopper. I agree one shouldn’t be judged on their looks, but come on buddy, you have a good gig going on for yourself. One of his costars said he’s the mirror hog, so those tresses mean something to him. Deal with your looks “babe.” My baby sister is taller than you if that makes you happy.
Also, let’s point out that he looks like a teeny, grumpy, brunette lion. Women wouldn’t be able to get by on that kind of variation from the norm. The fact that he is a sex symbol at all proves that the female gaze is less objectifying than the male gaze.
“Teeny, grumpy, brunette lion” is exactly right and I won’t be able to unsee it now! Too funny!
Lol @ “tiny, grumpy, brunette lion.”
LMAO.
Aw. Kit Harington Says Words is back. Dammit Kit, I knew this day was coming, I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself and Say Words about how life is so hard for you, a white heterosexual male. I am surprised this didn’t happen during the JK about Jon media blitz so I’m thinking he was heavily wrangled/coached/threatened/watched to not f–k it up.
ALL actors are employed, as least in part, because of their looks, whether they are conventionally attractive or not. There has to be something about their external presentation which makes them right for a role. Kit really does seem to be a chronic complainer – how many hungry young actors would give their left arm to have the opportunities he’s had? He needs to try a little gratitude. If looks get his foot in the door, so what? Once you’re there, you prove you’re more than just a pretty face.
Yeah, that’s what I came here to say. It’s not sexism, it’s an industry thing that applies across the board – but less so for men than women.
I don’t understand why Kit seems to think he’s so gorgeous. I’d take Bronn over Jon Snow any day of the week.
I like him, but he really needs to shut up.
I like him too but I need to put my fingers in my ears to keep on doing so.
UGH! Kit you are not oppressed and it’s not sexism. It’s not. You may be objectified but in no way are you a victim of sexism! Good grief!!!!! Does he even understand what that word means?!??!
Pray Tell, Mr. Snow, when were you discriminated against because of your GENDER?! As that is what SEXISM means. Sexism doesn’t mean “My fans only talk about how good looking I am and not how smart I am! Whiiiiiinnneeeee”
I like him for the most part, but whenever he starts talking about this subject, I forget that.
It’s not sexism, it’s objectification. And yeah, he was a right to be annoyed with that, especially if it makes him uncomfortable, but as you’ve said he’s the wrong person to be making this point because of the show he’s on. He’s never had to be naked on it. Even when he was a corpse and laid out naked, the essential bits were covered and his body was not displayed in a gratuitous manner at all.
He’s not even objectified that much, in comparison to so many other male actors. When people talk about his, it’s mostly about the role of Jon Snow. His physical features aren’t brought up nearly as much as other stars. He has no idea how lucky he is, but thinks he gets the worst treatment.
This obviously really bothers him, because he talks about it so much. So I’m not going to dismiss his feelings about being objectified.
However, he needs to leave the term “sexism” out of it. You’re a good looking, white male working in an industry that worships good looking white males. You’re not experiencing sexism. You’ll never be paid less. So STFU about sexism.
agreed. the word he’s looking for is ‘objectification’, not sexism.
Dude, a well-developed vocabulary is your friend. Objectification is exactly what he is talking about, and I don’t fault him at all for feeling icked-out by it…anyone would…and should. I’m starting to notice it more and more when it comes to male celebs in a certain demographic, and it bothers me seeing it happen to them as much as it bothers me when it happens to their female counterparts.
Sexism is an entirely different scenario, and I guarantee you that Kit has never experienced it.
Well this. It sucks to be objectified no matter your gender and you are all one hundred percent right that sexism is an entirely different animal.
Tl;dr. I totally agree.
As a member of the class of people who suffer relentlessly under the male gaze from puberty to the grave … just shut up. You have no idea what lifelong, persistent objectification feels like, the harm sexism actually does us, nor the damage double standards inflict on our lives. Stop using these words in reference to yourself as if you know what they mean.
SO annoying. And SO not a hunk.
Kit, Kit, Kit: first things first: you aren’t good looking. Really at all. You look a little scuzzy, like a guy hanging out in a gas station most women would rightly edge away from as they paid for gas.
Secondly: you obviously aren’t very bright if you think (mistakenly) being called attractive is sexism.
He lost some appeal for me bc he’s very SHORT. Like 5’6 or something.
He looks so tiny next to the other male and female leads.
And he complained he doesn’t find tall women attractive; of course bc you are such an insecure SHORTY!!!
He is 5’ 7 – 5’8. But what is yout problem with short men? Tom Hardy, James McAvoy or Oscar Isaac are very short men and they are gorgeous.
I think Kit is a very cute boy.
Now, those men you listed, I find attractive. This dude is not. (To me)
Hardy is 5’9″.
Also: meh. Some of us aren’t into short men. It happens.
well that is short, so is 5’9. 6′ is still the go to size for attractive men. short men are just not very manly and most women dont find that attractive, obviously. its hardly a single opinion, you’ll find that its rare for women to be attracted to shorter guys.
Tom Hardy is short but very manly!
5’9″ is average and not that short if you’re 5’4″ like me 🙂
But 5’9″ is my minimum for sure.
i can’t remember him saying he doesn’t find tall women attractive, just that being short he prefers someone who isn’t taller than him. it’s just a preference, like i prefer partners who are taller than me, being 5’8 myself.
I’m 5’8, too. Short dudes are not for me (not that they care, ha). The thought of being the biggest person in the room when naked makes me cringe. My husband is 6’6.
True and the is is pretty cool about it. There was an interview where he was talking about the casting process for GoT, and he mentioned that the first time all the Night’s Watch actors got together he wondered why everybody was so short, then he realised it was to make him look taller.
He is short – 5’6″ without his lifts.
So. It’s not a crime to be short. And it’s not exactly something he can help.
If it will help him feel better I can write down a list of all the things I find unattractive about his face and body and personality so he can read it every time he feels sad about being a dressed up pork chop ready to be consumed by such sexist and animalistic women.
Or I can tweet said list at him relentlessly calling him the B word and the C word and ho and all that fun stuff that happens to his female costars on Twitter. Or not even just his female costars, just women in general who have the nerve to put a picture of themselves on the internet without their accounts set to private.
Or how about you put on some high heels and squeeze your precious sensitive butt into some pantyhose and walk around in the heat while your contoured makeup melts off your face and some mechanic asks you if its ok to fix your car without your husbands permission and get back to me you friggin short sided ding dong who is too hairy to be complaining about being a sex symbol.
Or something like that.
i like him, but he really shouldn’t throw the word sexism so casually. what he experiences is being objectified, not sexism.
Sexism is too strong a word for people commenting on your hair. Otherwise he is not really wrong. Very few people must enjoy objectification.
Hey Kit, there is absolutely nothing about you that I find attractive. Feel better now?
Robb Stark and Khal Drogo were the hottest guys on that show. I doubt he’d have much going on if he cuts off his hair. Don’t flatter yourself, Jon Snow. You know nothing
There are enough people in the world who think Kit is a hunk for it to cause him a problem? Well, I’ll be damned!
I always imagine a conversation with him would be like talking to Derek Zoolander.
Well, I agree with him. There’s a lot of talk about sexism and body shaming of women, but let’s be honest – men face it too and it’s just as hurtful and damaging.
We need people to stand up to this type of thing and call it out – whether they’re men or women. The numbers of boys & men with eating disorders is rarely ever discussed – but it’s significant. Only for boys and men it’s harder to get help, because of the nonsensical stereotypes that men who talk about issues regarding sexism, the rampant abuse of Photoshop to present unrealistic body image standards, or harassment are “p*ssies” or “whining”.
I see what you are saying I think.
I’m curious if it is mostly other men (the suits in power) who are responsible for institutional sexism within the entertainment industry or is it the average female consumer that drives product (manly beef cakes) demand? I feel it is more than likely the same kind of creeps (creeps on various level of the ick scale mind you) who Feldman and Woods caution us about that are still intent on telling us, as they have for years, what we want to see on our screens.
Hollywood is not known for listening to the consumer as much as they are known for putting crap sandwiches out there and force feeding them to us with media blitzes and the like. Hollywood is also not known for making it easy on women executives (or in any position really) to move up the ranks to positions of power. The power still belongs to men for the most part.
If he is referring to female fans who say things like “SHOW ME YUR PEEN DRAGON BOY” or things like that then I agree with him that its not nice and…. nope I can’t finish that sentence because if he has a problem with his bosses then just say that. He gets the same type of pushback I’d give if I read a white trust fund broseph complain about how hard life is driving a used Lambo. No tears for them as I board the bus. Know what I mean?
So maybe that makes me a sexist person? I don’t know. To be honest I don’t even like The Boobs Rape and Dragons Show because I feel the lady rape and power regime struggles are far too similar to the debates going on in senates and in congress every damn day.
You are super funny Name. Love reading your comments 🙂
Just because he’s a guy, it doesn’t mean he can’t be just as much a target of sexism as a woman. If I understand what he’s saying, it’s that it’s frustrating for ANY actor (male or female) to be seen as nothing more than a pretty face. Actors put a lot of work into their craft, and to have that work dismissed by putting all the focus on looks is insulting.
And yes, I think it’s sexist to have a double standard where women tell men to “stop whining” or “STFU” when they too suffer from body shaming or sexism. Why would you be dismissive of someone when you (women in general) know exactly how it feels to be in that situation??
Men suffer all the same things women do – body shaming, eating disorders, rape, domestic violence and abuse – but face a much tougher road in terms of getting acceptance and help. Instead of dismissing them, we should be reaching out – sexism hurts all of us, no matter what gender – and working together to stop it.
@ MiniMii i agree with you. Its wrong either way and people should talk about it and not be dismissive about it.
This one is always whining. He thinks an awful lot of himself. I don’t find him good looking at all. He needs to sit down and shut up.
Wait what? He can’t talk about it because others have it worse? Sounds like womansplaining to me.
Good point.
Exactly.
why wont anyone listen to the white man complaining about his hard life?
This cracks me up. Feminism is supposed to be about equality between the sexes, but the moment a guy steps out of line and says something outside of the expected simpleton narrative that doesn’t completely jive with your shallow iteration of feminism, the knee jerk attacks roll in.
Genuine feminists would encourage men to speak up about issues that matter to them and not dismiss them and start listing statistics as if it’s some sort of competition of us versus them scenario. Respect between the sexes is a two way street, and if you want equality you have to provide for it as well.
You’re hurting your own cause by being obnoxious.
When a white male complains about sexism, he’s an ass. Period. He has NEVER experienced sexism. Perhaps he has been objectified and that makes him uncomfortable. I don’t have a problem with that. But when he claims to have been the victim of sexism, I DO have a problem. It would be like me complaining about “reverse discrimination,” or a person comparing having their picture taken to rape. It’s a self-centered, self-Indulgent whiny false comparison, insulting to everyone who has actually faced sexism for their entire life. You have a right to tell me I’m obnoxious. But don’t you dare tell me I’m not a “genuine feminist” because I won’t indulge this privileged white man in his victim fantasy. I don’t agree with your definition of respect. I will respect what he has to say when it isn’t ridiculous.
Fair points Good Names.
Let me re-word that, more respectfully:
Given what I have seen in life, in my opinion, genuine feminists *ought* to encourage men to speak up.
^^I don’t get this.
Why would men need women to encourage them to speak up? In a patriarchal society, men are not the silent minority, they’re the vocal majority.
Historically, men have never been afraid to speak up.
Suddenly it’s our responsibility to hold their hand while they do so because, feminism?
Also, go GNAT! 😉
Kitten,
There are so many ways that men are silenced about their emotions, and many ways how people casually reinforce that without realizing that they do so. I read the comments and reactions to this story as reenforcing a “man up and stop crying” trope.
I think if men aren’t encouraged to speak up about pressures they feel they are more likely to re-enforce the sexist status quo. I think sexism is an issue that everyone should be introspective about, and I think the categories shouldn’t just be “all men benefit all the time from patriarchy” and “all women are victimized all the time” “how dare a man express feelings, even if they are a little siily they are completely illegitamate in the face of what I as a woman have gone through”. Why so mutually exclusive people?
…Maybe feminism just isn’t the right approach to figuring out equality for me, and reading these comments just aggravate that. Sorry.
Good names, I think you and I probably define sexism differently. It seems like you see it as pertaining to the multitude of issues that women deal with as a result of men being sexist. My definition is a little more loose in that I see sexism as being a symptom of patriarchy and that men, who as a group perpetuate and benefit from sexism are also subjected to the limitations and problems of sexism, albeit not in such a severe way.
My argument is basically that when we make fun of men for, basically, being all “girly” about their feelings of objectification, we are in fact re-enforcing the very ideas of manhood that perpetuate and foster men to be sexist jerks in the first place.
That’s why I think, basically, that it’s important for men to be treated as equals when they talk about their experiences like this.
Men don’t necessarily experience “sexism” as we define it culturally, but they come up fave to face with patriarchy every day and I think you’d be surprised to see how that affects some men.
I get that what I’m saying can be aggravating, but I think it’s part of the solution.
Bums me out a little.
You could make the argument than men can experience sexism when they are victims of sexual violence. Men and boys who are raped or molested (or victims of domestic violence) are victimized by institutionalized sexism. I understand the point being made here generally (and historically) white men have everything working in their favour to prevent their being victims of gendered thinking but I don’t buy the argument hook, line and sinker that that means they are *never* affected adversely by sexism.
And the fact that his bosses are men doesn’t absolve feminists of considering issues of male objectification. As a feminist I do consider that “my” issue. Kit Harington is a bad spokesperson for the problem, and a lot of what he says doesn’t hold water but the response of this thread is disappointing.
Thank you TatDaisy. I really appreciate your response.
“My argument is basically that when we make fun of men for, basically, being all “girly” about their feelings of objectification, we are in fact re-enforcing the very ideas of manhood that perpetuate and foster men to be sexist jerks in the first place.”
Oh I agree with that. But the comments here aren’t so much about challenging his manhood, as they are challenging his decision to claim that he’s a victim of the same kind of sexism as women are.
I just don’t agree that it’s mostly women who are trying to silence men for showing their emotions and telling them to “man up”. I think it’s mostly men who are doing that to other men.
I guess I’m having trouble with the idea that women should be held responsible for eradicating sexism, a system of beliefs and attitudes which was largely created by men. Seems unfair to me. I understand and agree that both genders have to work together to change things, but I disagree that women have an obligation to soothe men who have hurt feelings about being treated as a sex object.
I apologize if it sounds like I’m dismissing how he feels…I guess maybe I am on some level.
@Lucky
I didn’t say a word about him being “girly” or anything remotely like that. My husband is very in touch with his feelings and can articulate them beautifully. I can say the same for my brothers and my male friends, so perhaps I don’t have a lot of exposure to this shy man who feels ridiculed because he has feelings. I haven’t met him, or at least I haven’t seen him in thirty years. Nor have I met many men who hesitate to express their opinion about most subjects. As for treating him like an equal when he talks about his feelings of being objectified, I am. I disagree that his experiences of being seen as a “hunk” rises to the level of sexism. I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word. I’m not saying that men can never be victims of sexism, but I don’t think getting lots of compliments on your looks is the same thing as being told you shouldn’t like math or boys won’t want to marry you. I am treating him as an equal because I am saying that I disagree with him, just as I would disagree with a woman who took the same position. Treating someone as a equal doesn’t mean agreeing with them when they’re wrong. I think your protection of his “fragile male ego” is just buying into the very thing you say you’re against.
I’m with you Lucky, in the sense that I think men definitely can be victims of sexism. Though I also agree with the posters who are pointing out that what sulky-lion tends to talk about is objectification rather than sexism.
While I don’t think men are subject to the same kind of continual, pervasive sexism as women, you can’t say they’re always on the winning side of gender discrimination. Men lose in regards to conscription, response to male victims of rape or domestic violence and parental rights after a divorce. And there are more subtle forms of prejudice that are hard to quantify with numbers, like the attitude in the thread a day or two ago about male nannies: 95% of the posters were happy to come out and say “I wouldn’t have a male nanny because men are more likely to be paedophiles”. If you flipped it around to something like “babies shouldn’t be left alone with their mothers because women are more likely to commit infanticide than men” (statistically true) there’d be an uproar because 99.999999% of mothers don’t commit infanticide.
I also think discrimination against either gender tends to harm both genders via secondary effects. Low pay for females hurts their male children. Scorn for male rape victims hurts the man and his pain/trauma will in turn hurt his wife. You can’t just pick one group and discriminate against them without the flow-on effects hurting society in general. That is why I think all activists (feminists, men’s right activists, race activists, LGBT activists) should speak up about any form of discrimination. Because even if it’s not the big obvious issue affecting you, it is almost certainly affecting you (or someone you care about) in some way.
@Lucrezia- lmao@”sulky loins” moniker.
And youre absolutely right to clarify that what SL is describing is more precisely objectification.
You have just written an excellent response.
Feminism is a pretty interesting conceptual framework and it bums me out when it’s misused to essentially contribute to attitudes and ways of thinking that ultimately perpetuate sexism and discrimination.
Mocking and ridiculing men talking about objectification (and allowing that to justify comments about his small stature, for example), subconsciously re-enforcing gender stereo types, and encouraging people to dismiss men when they say something silly while trying to make a somewhat salient point are exactly the same types of behaviors that help drive sexism against women.
Talking about how short a man is is akin to talking about how small a woman’s breasts are.
I’m smacking my forehead.
It would seem people think that using the same mechanisms that drive sexism is somehow an acceptable way to counter-act it.
That is a frustrating notion.
Wait..now you REALLY lost me. Talking about how short a man is the same as men talking about how small a woman’s breasts are?
Just quickly as I run off to work … proper citation: I totally nicked “lion” off t.fanty above.
His bosses are men. This seems like man on man “crime” to me.
Women must provide proof of sexual harassment in the work place so I’d like him to show me on the doll where the male producer touched him.
Is he a man on a nudie fantasy show complaining about being required to be attractive and being treated like a woman? While saying its not fair that women can complain about being treated like crap but he can’t? Because thats what it looks like. He isn’t even saying stop treating people like sex objects and lets not do so much screwing on the TV. He is saying he is upset he doesn’t have the right to complain about it like a woman would. No one toucher his pecker places and no one forced him to accept a job on a show with female rape set in a make-believe land with no toilet paper or showers. (Seriously, the writer imagined dragons and wars but no plumbing? Why? I can’t stop thinking all these characters SMELL BAD)
This isn’t Jezebel though.
Agreed.
Kitten,
I’m not saying women have to soothe, or they alone have to fix these problems. I’m also not saying its mostly women or mostly men who silence men. I’m just trying to point out how we all play a part in contributing to patriarchy. Why can’t Kit be right on some level without that diminishing other aspects of feminism. Why is it so split between “you’re male, I’m female”? What is so wrong between linking what he’s saying to workplace discrimination in the way it would be otherwise linked had he been a ‘she’ and said the exact same thing (as often happens in feminism).
I think we all have to do our part and consider what other people, who aren’t necessarily of the same sex, are going through as a result of patriarchy. That to me is the feminist approach that will actually achieve something.
Just the responses to Kit talking about a double standard seem to ironically, expose a double standard.
As Tatdaisy pointed out, he’s not the best spokesperson for this point, but the point is still relevant.
Sexism is perpetuated by unexamined assumptions and the work of a feminist is to question and examine his or her own assumptions as much as he or she does those of others.
Because his complaint is not that no one, male or female, should be valued strictly on their outward appearance. His complaint is that is is a sexist world because everyone doesn’t gasp in horror when HE complains about it as he believes they would if a woman complained about it, as Name said above. He’s the one setting up the comparison.
Yes! Well said Lucky and I agree.
He always looks like he’s smelling something bad. Other than that I got nothing.
He should be thankful for his looks. He’s certainly not getting jobs for his acting.
He is such a pouty little whiner. I don’t find him remotely attractive.
Is he wearing skinny jeans I the above photo? Gross.
imho it is not gracious to complain about something all women face all the time. if he experiences a microcosm of it, the best response would be ‘it must be difficult for women to be treated as objects ALL THE TIME’. dude! there is NO REVERSE SEXISM RACISM OR ANY ISM TO THE DOMINANT GROUP! oy ps. i would never objectify him. ug
Yawn. Poor Kit. If he actually were “hunky” or “beautiful” he’s be much less boring. Don’t find him either attractive or talented. One facial expression in GoT, Pompeii, Testament of Youth. If he can learn another one, maybe his opportunities will increase?
IMDB listed him at 5’6″ until a few months ago – guess he’s still growing at age 30? He looked funny in ToY because his male costars towered over him. He has nice hair?
I am with you Kaiser. I was just beginning to like him a bit again. I think his real life pairing with Ygritte (sp?) and a few interviews where he talks about general life things.
But the words… I’m surprised he hasn’t discussed how emotionally damaged he is from me calling him sadface all the time. His acting so far has been a serious of raised eye brows and sad face but I let it go. Maybe he can let this double standard talk go.
Whelp, if it makes him feel any better, I’ll confess that I don’t find him the least bit attractive.
Is it just me because I don’t find him as good-looking as he tries to convince is that he is. He has a perpetual sad bitch face and he is short. Not atteactive. And i know he wants to be valued not for his looks but I do not really see him having great acting chops either.
And this little piece, coming from site like Celebitchy, just proved his point about double standards.
There is a double standard when men complain about being objectified. Because they have no clue as to what it is to be objectified. I’m a 60 (almost) year old woman, and I have always been pretty. Nothing to stop the train about, but pretty face and figure. My earliest memory is being praised for being pretty. I was three. My ballet teacher molested me at age six. I was told not to be smarter than the boys. I was told that math was a waste of time for me. A man exposed himself to me when I was eight. I thought he was eating a hot dog until I realized what it was. I felt like I had done something wrong. I’ve been sexually assaulted, groped, had disgusting things whispered in my ear, been accused of being a “cock tease” when I didn’t want to have sex, been sexually harassed by multiple bosses, been hit on by my sister’s husband when I was 16, been screamed at for going back to a guy’s room in college because of course I must have wanted sex, been told by my boss that my doctor asked if he had found the lump in my breast, been asked in an interview what I looked like in a bikini…and you know what? That doesn’t cover half of it. I was praised for being pretty and condemned for being pretty. I was expected to please everyone sexually and condemned for being taken advantage of sexually. And you know what else? I’m not at all unusual. It’s a typical female experience. So yeah. There’s a double standard. He can kiss my ass.
That promo thumbnail is everything… he looks like a disgruntled muppet.
Women can get crazy-ever seen a bunch of women at the Australian down under or some other cheesy magic mike type thing? They’re gross. Keep preaching Kit.
What would he say if he was on a list called, “Most Meh-Looking Famous Individuals”? I bet he’d be all kinds of offended because then it would be, “Looks shouldn’t matter! We are all beautiful! I’m an actor! It’s about my CRAFT! Waaaaah!!” Every show/movie has their beautiful and dumb bimbo, and GOT found theirs! Heheh.
I wonder if he knows that the media is owned by men and thus only men choose how both women and men are portrayed on the screen. Now THAT is a double standard.
Kit… just don’t speak. It takes away from my love for you
The thing is our experience can only ever be personal, or to do with our individual experiences, so even if he knows that women may have experienced daily sexism, and all of us have this collectively, it won’t make his own ones any better. The issue is, that maybe he needs to find better ways to talk about it, but it is enormously complicated to discuss, and he needs to sound a little bit less like he is whining. Being an actor, there is going to an element of being objectified, however one looks, or I mean, judged on how one looks.
Way to dismiss a person’s opinion just because it differs from yours. Yeah, if guys talked about women the way some of you have talked about him not wanting to be objectified, people would be ticked, rightfully.
No one likes being objectified.
I think he’s hot, and I love his character.
You’re absolutely right. I kinda feel bad for this guy now.
Kit Harington: “I’ve experienced sexism.”
Celebitchers: “Shut up!”
And they think HE’S the one being the dick. Weird.