The Harvard Club That Honored Mila Kunis Is Finally Letting Women Perform

After 223 years of existence, the Associated Press reports that Harvard University's oldest theater troupe Hasty Pudding will finally allow women to perform onstage. The announcement of such a long overdue move came on Thursday, during the troupe's honoring of their Woman of the Year, Mila Kunis.

The Bad Moms actress hit Harvard for Hasty Pudding's annual "roast," and told reporters at the event that the group's decision to include women not only behind the scenes, but on stage as part of the troupe's cast, was necessary.

"I wouldn't be here otherwise," Kunis told The Associated Press. "It was something very important to me. This is something this program always wanted to do. It was something that was going to happen inevitably."

Prior to the announcement from Amira Weeks, the group's student president, students protested the Woman of the Year roast, in hopes that Hasty Pudding would decide to bring actresses into the performances. Currently, the men of Hasty Pudding perform as female characters, even though women are permitted to write for the shows or work on the tech crew. Starting next year, however, the women of Harvard University will be able to show off their comedy chops right alongside the boys.

It only makes sense that Kunis, an outspoken feminist, would be the person accepting the honor during a time of pivotal change for the organization. In an essay for A Plus, Kunis wrote that she was sick of playing by the rules of a so-called "boys' club."

"Throughout my career, there have been moments when I have been insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on my gender. And always, I tried to give people the benefit of the doubt; maybe they knew more, maybe they had more experience, maybe there was something I was missing," Kunis penned. "I taught myself that to succeed as a woman in this industry I had to play by the rules of the boy's club. But the older I got and the longer I worked in this industry, the more I realized that it's bullshit! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen."

Ultimately, that revelation led to Kunis starting her own production company, so she can play by her rules.

Fortunately, it sounds like Hasty Pudding is catching up to the times and giving women a seat at the table — or, rather, a place on stage. Infiltrating the boys' club, and turning it into one that welcomes everyone, is just one way that women can have their voices be heard in a time when we need them most.