in brief: new short film reverses gender roles and opens eyes to every day sexism

Image: Jezebel

French filmmaker, Éléonore Pourriat, has everyone talking about her latest short film, Majorité Oprimée (Oppressed Majority), an interesting take on the reversal of gender roles.

Oppressed Majority finds a man taking his son to daycare and going to work, encountering everything from condescending conversation to public catcalls, and even sexual assault, along the way.

The film is startling in the blatant way it displays the sexism experienced by the male protagonist.

Even the man’s wife, after his assault, is patronising about his clothing, calling him out on his ‘provocative’ choice of over-the-knee shorts and thongs.

Her statement of ‘Don’t you dare complain!’ in response to the man dressing how he wants, is an all too familiar step into the realm of slut shaming.

Far from sugar coating anything, the situations in the film are disturbing and, most of all, realistic. These are situations encountered by women every day: being called names by strangers, or being talked down to because of their gender.

Pourriat has not shied away from the every day norm of harassment in her short film. True, not every female experiences these sorts of things every day. But most women do have to tolerate a certain amount of catcalls and comments, something not as often reported by men.

This short film begs the question, if this treatment of men is so horrifying in a short film, why is it not equally as horrifying when it actually happens to women?

Watch Oppressed Majority here.
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