This year, I was one of the 19 million people across the country to tune in to the annual Golden Globes award ceremony on Jan. 8. While this ceremony—which honors both television and movies—is considered to be much more relaxed than other award ceremonies, this year’s show changed its tune.

Most of the women who attended the event wore black dresses, while a significant amount of the men wore pins on their lapels with the simple phrase “Time’s Up.” In the past, I’ve seen celebrities wear ribbons, pins or certain colors to award shows in order to take a stance on a certain topic, so I assumed there was some sociopolitical issue behind these pins. I turned to my mom while we were watching the show – we truly bond over frilly award shows like these – and asked her what those pins meant.

It didn’t take long for me to figure it out. The 2018 Golden Globes was the first award show since the Harvey Weinstein scandal first broke through, so the topic of sexual assault was at the forefront of discussion for most of the night. Most, if not all, of the presenters addressed the flood of sexual abuse and assault reports that have recently come to light, and the black dresses were an act of solidarity.

As for the pins, “Time’s Up” is a movement against sexual harassment – particularly in the entertainment industry. While Time’s Up started in 2006, celebrities such as actresses America Ferrera and Eva Longoria have helped resurface the movement this year, following the #MeToo movement and the Weinstein scandal.

Many of the women throughout the night addressed sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, as well as the fact that the industry itself continues to be dominated by males. Even though I wasn’t there, I could even feel the empowerment that was circulating in the Beverly Hilton Hotel that night. Women were supporting each other with positivity and affirmation and all these emotions accumulated toward the end of the night when Oprah made her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille award.

While the Golden Globes definitely did a substantial job of supporting such an important message, there were a couple times where I think the attendees strayed away from the message they were trying to get across.

For example, the last time a woman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director was 1984. This year, Natalie Portman introduced the nominees by pointedly saying, “Here are the all-male nominees…”

For me, the purpose of the Time’s Up movement is to make it so all people are respected and treated equally in the workplace. However, just because women are more commonly the victims of this sexual harassment or disrespect does not automatically make men the enemy. Maybe what Portman said might have been more of an attack on the Golden Globes for making it an all-male category. However, to me, it came across as her almost shaming the men of the category for simply being men. Those who sexually harass or disrespect people in the workplace are the ones at fault, not men in general.

That said, the Golden Globes definitely helped contribute to the Time’s Up movement, something that we can expect to see in future award shows.

For instance, the first ever host of the SAG Awards (which happened on Jan. 21) was a woman, all the presenters were women, and many of the attendees addressed the message behind Time’s Up. So, while movements are complex, I think that this movement will only continue to prove the power and importance its message holds.

To contact the Ionian’s Dana Ruby, email her at druby1@ gaels.iona.edu.