Justice

This 'Game of Thrones' Actress Just Revealed an Absurd Form of Gender Inequality

April 19th 2016

"Game of Thrones" isn't exactly known for holding back when it comes to sex on the screen. But on a Monday night appearance on "the Late Late Show," star Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) opened up to host James Corden about how gender inequality shapes who strips down on set.

“There’s a little bit of inequality with nudity that happens with women — this woman in particular — and that happens with the other guys," Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen on the show, told Corden and guests Abbi Jacobson and Illana Glazer. "I think it should be even.”

Though "Game of Thrones" has portrayed many a breast and waxed vagina in its salacious sex scenes, the show has dedicated considerably less attention to the naked male physique.

"The show’s makers keep refusing to depict full-frontal male nudity even in scenes where it plays a direct role in the plot," reporter Melissa Leon wrote in an April 2015 post on the Daily Beast.

"I just feel like penises are so disgusting," Corden responded.

Clarke fired back that female genitalia isn't exactly "pretty" either, and she led a rallying cry to "free the penis" that was applauded by "Broad City" stars Jacobson and Glazer.

The gender nudity gap.

The comparative "ick factors" of male and female genitalia aside, a recent report revealed that there is a considerable gender gap when it comes to nudity in Hollywood.

In the top 100 U.S. box office films of 2014, 26 percent of female characters "appeared either nude or partially nude, compared to just 9 percent for male characters," the Guardian reported. Women also got significantly fewer leading roles than men — only 12 percent of the films had a woman in the leading role.

Charlize Theron recently drew criticism for making a poorly worded statement bemoaning being "too pretty" to get certain roles in Hollywood.

Though Theron's remark raised some eyebrows, it wasn't completely baseless — women in Hollywood often find that their opportunities are limited due to their looks, which can send the troubling message that female stars are simply meant to serve as eye candy.

Women who appear in nude scenes aren't all treated equally.

Women who bare it all on screen also often face scrutiny about their bodies, a problem rarely encountered by their male co-stars.

Though Clarke was voted the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire after she appeared in numerous nude scenes on the HBO series, women whose body types lie outside of Hollywood norms have been treated very differently for showing their bodies on camera.

Lena Dunham has faced countless jabs about the sex-scenes on HBO's "Girls."

When plus-sized star Gabourey Sidibe appeared in a sex scene on "Empire," Twitter users trolled and shamed her for her physique.

You can watch the full "Late Late Show" video clip on YouTube.

[H/T The Cut]

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