Golden Globes 2018: Why So Many Women Wore Emeralds on the Red Carpet

Black dresses on the 2018 Golden Globes red carpet weren’t the only symbolic look of the night—plenty of actresses also wore emerald jewels, a stone which signifies “hope, renewal and growth” and marks a symbolic element of the Time’s Up initiative protest on the red carpet, which aims to combat sexual assault and gender disparity in all workplaces, not just Hollywood.

While some actresses brought awareness to the solidarity initiative by bringing activists as their dates to the red carpet, others took a different route. Debra Messing, Zoë Kravitz and Catherine Zeta-Jones arrived on the red carpet for the Golden Globes in black, of course in support of the Time’s Up initiative, but they also took their protesting a step further with their jewelry of choice. The three actresses wore emerald earrings and rings to signify their commitment to positive change and growth, much like the meaning behind the green stone. Both Ashley Judd and Halle Berry also followed suit, with emerald accessories on the red carpet.

When Suffragettes marched and campaigned a century ago, they also donned jewelry and accessories set with emeralds, so the emerald trend on the Golden Globe red carpet could also be read as a nod to the British women’s movement to acquire the right to vote. Official colors of the Suffragettes—purple, white and green—were incorporated into small flags and pins. Today’s women of Hollywood chose the emerald color as a piece of their wardrobe to support the Time’s Up anti-harassment plan and legal defense fund, and protest sexual assault in the workplace, in solidarity with women across multiple fields—whether that’s solidarity between other actresses, farm workers, domestic workers or political activists.

Gemstones can carry different meanings across cultures, but the emerald as a symbol is often said to represent hope. Associated with the Greek goddess Venus, wearers of emeralds participate in a tradition of bearing hope (Aristotle once said the stone will bring victory to its wearer), and the actresses on the carpet wearing emerald certainly represent hope that in the wake of Hollywood’s sexual assault epidemic sexual predators will be prosecuted, and women will be protected through the Time’s Up initiative’s legal defense fund, which has already garnered nearly fifteen million dollars in donations.

Related: Golden Globes 2018: See Hollywood’s Biggest Names Wearing Black Dresses On the Red Carpet

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