"North Country"

Well, because I love Charlize Theron, and my husband does too, we decided to see "North Country" for our date last Saturday night.

First of all, I was astounded that, given the subject matter, this 'based on a true story' took place in 1989. Yeah, I was a sophomore in high school and women were being treated like second-class citizens in the same country I live in -- and it was accepted/acceptable.

Charlize's character, Josie, leaves her abusive husband and travels to northern Minnesota to move back to her hometown and live with her parents. She hears about the pay at the mines, and although women aren't exactly welcome there, she gets a job and starts work with a few other women. They give the women the least desirable jobs at the mine, and the women are expected to work just as hard as the men, in addition to having to fend off the sexual advances from men all day long.

Eventually, Josie gets tired of the treatment she receives there and does something about it. The chances of her winning a class-action case against the mine look bleak at first, because she's a lone defendant (the others want to keep their jobs so they don't stand up for themselves), and because the women even sign an affidavit saying the things Josie has accused the male miners of never occured.

By the end of the movie, one woman, who is on her death bed, decides to speak up, and sways other women (and some men) to stand with Josie in the class-action lawsuit. Josie and the others win the case, and corporations across America have to follow suit.

When I left the theater, checking my mascara to see how much of it had run down to my neck (yes, parts of it were a real tear-jerker) I thought about how my life might be different if I'd been 10 years older than I am and had entered the work force without no real protection against sexual harrassment.

I also understood why the Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas case was such a big deal during the late Nineties, as I paid it no attention while the case was in court and splattered all over television and print media.

I remember vividly that there was a lot of talk about sexual harrassment when I was in high school and in my early years as an employee of various establishments. What I never knew was how I'd just missed the era of being able to say whatever you wanted to a woman (or man, I guess) at the workplace, and there was no real protection under the law against unwanted sexual comments and advances.

It boggles my mind that 15 years ago, these things were still taking place, when truly, women went to work en masse during World War II, when many of their male counterparts were overseas.

So, in short, women had to deal with this treatment (or a lack of protection from this treatment) for no less than 45 years as a true subgroup of working America. It baffles me that this wasn't addressed sooner than 1989. That seems like so few years ago, yet look how far we've come.

What's sad is that now, men all over the world are afraid to tell their female coworkers 'you look nice today' for fear that their comments will be misconstrued and taken as sexual advances.

I guess we're (the collective working world) making up for lost time, huh? Or maybe it's just further proof that sue-happy America is what (unfortunately) sets the precendents for the rest of us these days.

Anyway, off my soap box long enough to say that "North Country" was a great movie.