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From Viola Davis to Natalie Portman- Celebs give voice to Women's March

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ANI New York [USA]

From Viola Davis to Olivia Moon to Scarlett Johansson- numbers of celebrities joined in to for the second Women's March on Saturday.

With the theme 'Hear Our Vote', the rally was much more than electoral politics, where the demonstrators advocated for women's rights and equality, amidst the much-talked about #MeToo and Time's Up movements.

The celebrities addressed the crowd and spoke for change, betterment and equality.

Here's what they said, as quoted by CNN:

# Viola Davis

"I am always introduced as an award-winning actor but my testimony is one of poverty, my testimony is one of being sexually assaulted and very much seeing a childhood that was robbed from me. And I know that every single day when I think of that, I know that the trauma of those events are still with me today. And that's what drives me to the voting booth."

 

# Eva Longoria

"This march and this movement is far more ambitious in scope and scale and it extends beyond one political actor or even one political party. What we're calling for is sustainable and systematic change to the experience of women and girls in America. A change from fear and intimidation to respect. From pain and humiliation to safety and dignity. From marginalization to equal pay and representation."

# Natalie Portman

"I keep hearing a particular gripe about this cultural shift and maybe you have, too. Some people have been calling this movement puritanical or a return to Victorian values, where men can't behave or speak sexually around dainty, delicate, fragile women. To these people I want to say, the current system is puritanical. Maybe men can say and do whatever they want, but women cannot. The current system inhibits women from expressing our desires, wants and needs, from seeking our pleasure."

# Scarlett Johansson

"While Me Too means different things to different people, to me, it is very simply the ability to empathize with the visceral realities of this condition. I want to move forward. And for me, moving forward means my daughter growing up in a world where she doesn't have to be a victim of what has cruelly become the social norm. That she doesn't have to fit into the bindings of the female condition. Time's up on the female condition..."

"I stand before you someone that is empowered, not only by the curiosity about myself and the active choices that I am finally able to make and stand by, but by the brightness of this movement, the strength and the unity that this movement has provided. It gives me hope that we are moving toward a place where our sense of equality can truly come from within ourselves."

# Olivia Munn

"I'm asking all of you to be the team member for every woman in your life. Refrain from judgment. Be the rock of understanding be the well of empathy. Right here, we all have the power to make sure that our daughters, nieces, granddaughters, great granddaughters, grow up with a mentality, that if you come from one of us, you come from all of us."

# Sarah Hyland

"If we have learned one thing this year it's that we are not alone. We are not alone. Millions of women have marched, millions of women have raised their voices and told the world, hey, MeToo. And now, united, we have declared that the time is up. Time's up. Time's up on men harassing women. And assaulting women. And getting away with it."

# Rob Reiner

"We have a racist in the White House. We have a sexist in the White House. We have a pathological liar in the White House, and he is tearing away at the fabric of our democracy. And when we all came together last time, we had the power and it's the women -- the women have given us the power..."

"And the women continue to give us the power. We've seen it with more women running for office, more women taking the true power that they have and it's with women that we will take by this country and return democracy to where it belongs."

# Larry Wilmore

"But men, we can't just reserve our listening for issues that anyone with the smallest amount of decency should lend an ear to. We have to listen to women not just because we're being indicted, but because they need to be included. We cannot be a great country until women not only have a seat at the table, but -- how about this -- are actually seated at the head of the table. And so 2017 could be called the year of speaking up. We need 2018 to be the year of showing up at the ballot box.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

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First Published: Jan 21 2018 | 4:23 AM IST

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