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Some claim men aren't being hired because of #MeToo. A male writer nailed why that's BS.

Are men really not being hired because of the #MeToo movement?

Here’s how the tale goes: Now that women have started publicly outing men who have sexually harassed them in the workplace and are drawing attention to unequal representation in their fields, companies feel pressured to hire women. So women are now taking mens’ jobs and it’s not fair. Or something like that.

The #MeToo movement has shed light on how frequent sexual harassment happens. Photo via David McNew/Getty.

Apparently, some agents in the entertainment industry are telling this tale to their male clients. Rather than men having to face the fact that maybe their work wasn’t good enough — and rather than agents taking heat for not being able to get their client hired — women are being scapegoated and #MeToo is being blamed for crushing mens' professional dreams.

Hollywood writer and producer David Slack explained why that’s bullshit.

Slack has helped write and produce numerous shows, such as "Law & Order, "Person of Interest," "Lie to Me," and the "MacGyver" reboot. He’s smack-dab in the middle of the television world and knows it well — and he had some words for men in Hollywood who are being fed this tale.

Addressing male TV writers, he sympathized with how much it sucks to not get hired for a job. Second, he called out their agents' BS.

[rebelmouse-image 19347026 dam="1" original_size="674x237" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

He went on to point out that women are not swarming Hollywood staff writing jobs and that "the overwhelming majority of employed TV writers are still male."

[rebelmouse-image 19347027 dam="1" original_size="669x295" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

Then he laid into the agents who are adding to the sexism and misogyny that already plagues the entertainment industry with this #MeToo tale of woe. "By scapegoating women & #MeToo," he wrote, "your agents are trying to cover up for their own failure to get you a job."

[rebelmouse-image 19347028 dam="1" original_size="664x361" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

He laid down a hard truth: You probably didn't get the job because you weren't good enough.

When we come this close to something we really want only to see it go to someone else, it's easy to start looking for someone to blame. But the truth is, sometimes we just get outcompeted.

Slack challenged writers to up their game, write better samples, make better presentations, and demand more of their agents.

[rebelmouse-image 19347029 dam="1" original_size="675x529" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

"If you focus on raising your game instead of buying into the bullshit that the system is rigged (it's not), that next job will come your way," he wrote. "Trust me."

To back up his point, Slack brought in a link to UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report, which found that of 109 scripted network shows, only 13% achieve parity for women.

[rebelmouse-image 19347030 dam="1" original_size="674x323" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

Some questioned if this was really happening in Hollywood. It is — and in other industries as well.

Slack responded to an incredulous "Are men really being told this?" question, and others chimed in to point out that it happens in other fields, too, from medicine to engineering.

[rebelmouse-image 19347031 dam="1" original_size="662x550" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

What's that saying? When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression? Yeah, that.

Finally, Slack pointed out the hypocrisy in him getting a lot of attention for saying things women have been saying all along.

[rebelmouse-image 19347032 dam="1" original_size="666x349" caption="Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via David Slack/Twitter.

"The fact that I'm getting credit for saying things plenty of women have been saying for years is only further evidence of the problem," he wrote. "Listen to women when they say things the first time."

It bears repeating: Listen to women when they say things the first time.

Good for David Slack for using his position of privilege to draw attention to an issue that affects women and then directing the attention back to the women who've been unheard. This is how it's done.

Joy

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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nature
Pop Culture

People are loving this Amazon delivery driver for warning a woman that her house is 'unsafe'

Great info, even better delivery.

TikTok

Delivering packages AND safety.

Amazon delivery drivers don’t have the easiest job in the world. Sitting through traffic, working in extreme temperatures, hauling boxes … not exactly a fun time. So when a driver goes out of their way to be extra considerate—people notice.

One delivery driver has gone viral for the way she delivered a little bit of safety education, along with some lighthearted advice. The TikTok video of the encounter, which now has more than 4 million views, was shared by Jessica Huseman, who had only recently moved into her new house.

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acts of kindness
Pop Culture

Christopher Walken dancing in over 50 movies all perfectly spliced into a single music video

Most people don’t know he studied dance as a child.

via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

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dance
Joy

A major UCLA study says that at least 65 species of animals laugh

If you've never seen a fox giggle, you're in for a treat.

SaveAFox/YouTube

Foxes giggle like children on helium.

Laughter is one of the most natural impulses in humans. Most babies start to laugh out loud at around 3 to 4 months, far earlier than they are able to speak or walk. Expressing enjoyment or delight comes naturally to us, but we're not the only creatures who communicate with giggles.

Researchers at UCLA have identified 65 species of animals who make "play vocalizations," or what we would consider laughter. Some of those vocalizations were already well documented—we've known for a while that apes and rats laugh—but others may come as a surprise. Along with a long list of primate species, domestic cows and dogs, foxes, seals, mongooses and three bird species are prone to laughter as well. (Many bird species can mimic human laughter, but that's not the same as making their own play vocalizations.)

Primatologist and UCLA anthropology graduate student Sasha Winkler and UCLA professor of communication Greg Bryant shared their findings in an article in the journal Bioacoustics.

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animals
Joy

People are sharing the weirdest, most unforgettable art they've found in thrift stores

As the old saying goes, one person's trash is another one's treasure.

via Thrift Store Art and Thrift Store Art

A few of the rare finds at Thrift Store Art's Instagram page

As the old saying goes, one person's trash is another one's treasure.

Even though people can easily buy used items on eBay, the thrift store business thrives in America, bringing in an estimated $10 billion annually. At a time when the economy is shaky, thrift stores are a recession-proof business. When times are tough, people love to find a deal, and there's never any end to the fashionistas who roam thrift stores looking for a rare find.

San Francisco surfer and self-proclaimed thrift store junkie Bryan Dickerson has turned his passion for rare treasures into an Instagram page with over 246,000 followers. Thrift Store Art showcases the most bizarre things that thrifters find in stores and leans heavily into strange-looking works of art and clothing with questionable sayings. His crowds of followers send him countless strange finds every day, and he rewards them by calling them rude names in the comments.

But for Dickerson, it's all in fun.

He told Bored Panda that the idea of Thrift Store Art is “not to bash art but to expand what can be considered as art—clothing, album art, book graphics, vacation souvenirs.” Dickerson's foray into thrift store content was a much-needed break from his job as the editor of a news website.

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art
Pop Culture

Guy shares the reason viral gym videos need to end, and it's so spot on

"If you can’t respect other people in a shared space, you don’t belong filming at all.”

Reddit

“This sense of entitlement has gotten out of hand."

Gyms are communal spaces where people can come to improve their health, fitness and/or overall well-being.

However, it’s no secret that many gyms have also become a production studio of sorts where influencers can set up a tripod to demonstrate the most cutting-edge squatting technique or where the average Joe can take that obligatory gym selfie to prove that the workout did, in fact, happen.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these activities. However, they have sparked a new kind of behavior in gymgoers where they feign extreme frustration if folks walk from one machine to the next or grab a piece of equipment and, heaven forbid, enter the frame.

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community
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