{"id":76903,"date":"2025-02-24T10:59:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=76903"},"modified":"2025-02-24T10:59:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:59:55","slug":"jane-fonda-woke-just-means-you-give-a-damn-about-other-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/jane-fonda-woke-just-means-you-give-a-damn-about-other-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Jane Fonda: \u2018Woke Just Means You Give a Damn About Other People\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jane Fonda: Life Achievement Award Acceptance Speech | The 31st Annual SAG Awards\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z_v0NJ8_8ps?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We confess: <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/shows-movies-watch-2022-grace-frankie-good-place\/\">Jane Fonda<\/a> is an idol of ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just because of her prolific performance career, full of sharp, dynamic turns in films such as \u201c9 to 5,\u201d \u201cOn Golden Pond\u201d and \u201cThey Shoot Horses, Don&#8217;t They?\u201d as well as on TV shows like Netflix\u2019s \u201cGrace and Frankie\u201d and onstage in various Broadway plays. Performances that, by the way, earned her two Oscars, seven Golden Globes, an Emmy and several Grammy and Tony nods, among numerous other honors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also because she has been an ardent <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/terrifying-weather-events-part-2-enter-the-protesters\/\">activist<\/a> for decades, speaking out loudly about social justice causes like ending wars, combating climate change and refuting government infringement upon women\u2019s rights. She also co-founded the <a href=\"https:\/\/womensmediacenter.com\/\">Women&#8217;s Media Center<\/a> in 2005 to ensure better representation for fellow women creatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While accepting a <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/sag-awards-2025-jane-fonda-life-achievement-award-speech-11681213\">Lifetime Achievement honor<\/a> in celebration of all of that work at the 2025 SAG Awards, Fonda, now 87 years old, once more reminded us of her fire and forthrightness with a barn-burner speech.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_0cc402e30e9cabf5e32240546408863b\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/un-reaches-historic-agreement-on-ocean-protection-with-jane-fondas-help\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_6652-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Jane Fonda Greenpeace Oceans\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_6652-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_6652-1-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_6652-1-84x84.jpg 84w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_6652-1-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/un-reaches-historic-agreement-on-ocean-protection-with-jane-fondas-help\/\">\n              UN Reaches Historic Agreement on Ocean Protection \u2013 With Jane Fonda\u2019s Help\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>After graciously accepting the award, and reflecting upon her atypical career trajectory \u2013 including a 15-year hiatus that preceded a career boom later in her life \u2013 she talked about the benefits and power of unions, noting that SAG-AFTRA, the union of professional creatives that hosted the event, is \u201cdifferent than most other unions because us, the workers \u2013 we actors \u2013 we don&#8217;t manufacture anything tangible. What we create is empathy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She continued: &#8220;Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls. We know why they do what they do. We feel their joys and their pain.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in this current moment, that isn\u2019t just a laudable trait \u2013 it\u2019s a vital one, Fonda asserted. &#8220;Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or &#8216;woke&#8217; \u2013 and by the way, &#8216;woke&#8217; just means you give a damn about other people,&#8221; she said to the cheering audience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fonda concluded her speech by impressing upon viewers that we are, right now, in a critical moment in history. &#8220;Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements, like apartheid or our civil rights movement or Stonewall, and asked yourself: \u2018Would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge?\u2019 \u2018Would you have been able to take the hoses and the batons and the dogs?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe don&#8217;t have to wonder anymore,\u201d she continued, \u201cbecause we are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it&#8217;s not a rehearsal. This is it, and we mustn&#8217;t for a moment kid ourselves about what&#8217;s happening. This is big-time serious folks \u2013 so let&#8217;s be brave.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_12ba9056d7098dbc47bd8c2a9bdb6a73\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/climate-protesters-target-wall-street-in-summer-of-heat\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/marlena_fontes_final_with_mix50-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/marlena_fontes_final_with_mix50-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/marlena_fontes_final_with_mix50-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/marlena_fontes_final_with_mix50-84x84.jpg 84w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/marlena_fontes_final_with_mix50-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/climate-protesters-target-wall-street-in-summer-of-heat\/\">\n              Climate Protesters Target Wall Street in &#8216;Summer of Heat&#8217;\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While being recognized for a lifetime of creative achievements and activism at the 2025 SAG Awards, the actress reminded viewers of the heightened importance of empathy and bravery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":76904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"Jane Fonda's speech at the 2025 SAG Awards was a rallying cry:","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2025-02-24T15:59:56+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3liwprauopw2y","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3liwprauopw2y\",\"cid\":\"bafyreifmy4kb4hjgz22wnvbftujxplomvdxbiaxx4tukjtjrszor7cr2lm\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreiasjkz6odmfwcegwczrqo3qgg6teyhlugf6s22r34m2h2dnaxtlde\",\"rev\":\"3liwprauulg2y\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19477,73],"tags":[19773,21356,20202],"class_list":["post-76903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-women","category-happening-now","tag-activism","tag-empathy","tag-women-in-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Read About 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