‘Wonderful time for us as women’
Actor Sanaa Lathan, who has been a part of the show business for over 20 years now, has reflected on what it is like to be a woman in the industry. “This is a wonderful time for us as women,” she said. “Anything that supports us in being empowered in our own lives and in careers and brings us together, I’m all for it,” E! online quoted the 47year-old actor as saying.
While speaking to the media at a perfume launch, Lathan also reflected on what it means to be a black woman in Hollywood. “I always talk about the fairy tales that we grew up on — Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. I mean, these are the stories that we read as little girls to show us what is valued and what is beautiful and what we should want and (black women are) not reflected in that,” she said.
However, pointing out the silver lining, Lathan said, “I’m feeling so great now that we are starting to see images in advertising, movies and TV that look like us, because it’s important.”
Lathan is currently on the show Nappily Ever After, where she plays the role of a black woman who finds her identity after chopping her hair off. Commenting on her character (Violet) in the series, Lathan said, “We have to claim our own power, our own beauty. It’s also very universal for all women because hair is a metaphor for what society tells says you should be...”
I’m feeling so great now that we are starting to see images in advertising, movies and TV that look like us, because it’s important.
SANAA LATHAN ACTOR