There are some truly wonderful moments during the Hollywood awards nights. Audiences across America are drawn to their television sets to see who will win which award.

In my family we watch these shows religiously as we cheer on our favorite movies, television shows and actors. My absolute favorite aspect of this ritual is trying to guess the winners. It is on these evenings that our family becomes a group of acting experts and we are able to discuss exactly why or why not any given actor should win, regardless of whether or not we actually watched their movie or television show.

But, there is more to the awards shows than just the ceremony. The red carpet walk can be just as entertaining. For those short interviews on screen, you get to glimpse into an actor’s life. For that brief moment, the actors become real, relatable people. Their personalities are given the chance to shine, and audiences can see that people are not just the characters that they portray on our televisions. These may be the only few moments that they are allowed to be themselves.

This could be a holy-grail opportunity for reporters to get insight into the incredible work celebrities put into their roles. This is a time where they can ask about an actor’s influences, inspiration, career goals and so much more. I personally admire the reporters who are able to get red carpet personalities to really shine. Unfortunately, most red carpet reporters fail miserably (and here I use the term “reporters” loosely.)

For some strange reason, reporters have become obsessed with covering the superficial side of stardom. It’s become a wasted opportunity. The heart of the problem is that this phenomenon is not applied to all celebrities.

Male actors are asked some thought-provoking questions about their creative process, previous roles and their performances, while actresses are subjected to trivial questions about hair, dresses, pregnancy, manicures or even the contents of their purses. Their bodies become more important than their brains … Come on celeb reporters, get it together!

This kind of “reporting” objectifies women, which perpetuates the same sexist American culture that the brave women before us battled when they fought for the right to vote. Why am I still having to speak out against this stuff? When this type of trashy media is strewn across the television, it turns women into jumble of sexual body parts rather than human beings. Women are portrayed as a commodity.

I was taught at the University of Mississippi (Hotty Toddy!) to ask open-ended and thought-provoking questions. It isn’t that hard to do if you take just a few moments to do a little research and think about your questions. The red carpet reporters are lazy.

Don’t be fooled by their questions; the women of Hollywood are talented and interesting and above all deserve better treatment. They deserve the credibility that is given to their male colleagues.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who has noticed the sexism on the red carpet. Earlier this year, the Representation Project launched a Twitter campaign to suggest more suitable questions for the reporters to ask. The Representation Project’s mission is “to use film and media content to expose injustices created by gender stereotypes and to shift people’s consciousness towards change.” Basically, it is an awesome and admirable movement that is breaking all kinds of stereotypes. Check out their website, you’ll love it. They began the campaign in preparation for the Emmy Awards, and it took off Monday during the show.

The campaign used #askhermore to allow Twitter users to express their frustration with any idiotic questions. For example:

Hasti Namaki tweeted “Did OITNB (Orange is the New Black) open your eyes to the prison system.” Taylor Schilling got “how many clutches did you choose from?”

Ava Marinelli tweeted “Watching E! coverage is nauseating. We need to stop perpetuating the notion that women are catty and gossipy about other women.”

Nicole tweeted “Ryan Seacrest, why don’t you ask Naomi Watts about her career or herself, not ‘her man’s’ workout routine?”

Brett Ryback tweeted “I always think of my niece when I see women treated like this in media. I want better for her.”

Imagine the insight we could gain if only the reporter had gone the extra mile to ask a real question about their careers and talent. Imagine how differently people might look at these women. And, if people can view even the most objectified women as intelligent and talented people, just imagine how we may learn to view each other – our mothers, daughters, or best friends.

It takes only a few people to get the ball rolling, and I applaud the Ask Her More campaign. Actresses deserve better, and honestly so do we.

 Katie Williamson is a news reporter for The Daily Leader. Contact her at katie.williamson@dailyleader.com.