Christina Hendricks has "trauma" from constantly fighting to be taken seriously as a woman.
Christina Hendricks struggled to be taken seriously
The 48-year-old actress admitted it is only over the last few years she has begun to look back on how she has been treated, both professionally and personally, and realised how so much wasn't "right" but she relishes the way people are "working hard" to change the landscape.
She told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "[For many years I] never looked at the way I grew up, the things I was accustomed to and the things I expected as a woman...
“It has taken me [since entering my 40s] to realise: ‘That wasn’t right at all. Oh my God, I’ve been conditioned in such a way that I just take that as how things should be’.
“It’s only now that I’m coming out of my fairytale fog and realising: wait a minute, I have trauma from dealing with these things my entire life. I’m still trying to fight for equal treatment, being heard, being taken seriously.
"I fight for these things on a daily basis and it can be exhausting. So… I love the conversation. I love that we’re still working hard.”
The 'Buccaneers' actress recalls thinking in the 1990s that women had finally achieved equality.
She laughed: “It was like: ‘We’ve done it!’ Of course, we were nowhere near done, but every decade we probably get a little bit better.”
Christina admires the younger generation of actors who are not afraid to stand up for themselves.
She said: "This younger generation really do think differently to us. When I was their age I was told I was so lucky to be there. We all were. So we forgot the value of what we were contributing, what we had brought to the table.
"We just didn’t feel we deserved things or that we were allowed to ask for things… not even basic creature comforts.
"We got told to be quiet, be likeable and not complain, not ruffle feathers. It’s how we were raised.
“So it has been so interesting working with this younger generation of actors and actresses because they really do think differently. They really don’t tolerate that.”
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