A new story
We need to talk truth. Do you remember the 2000 film What Women Want? A chauvinistic advertising executive, played by Mel Gibson, miraculously gains the ability to hear women’s thoughts. It leads to comedic misadventures, unexpected romance, and a dose of personal growth. The moral of that story was ground-breaking for its time: women want men to lead with honesty and integrity, to develop their empathy, and to genuinely care.
Well, it has been over two decades. If we were to greenlight a 2026 remake, that baseline of empathy and honesty would be an absolute given. The pipeline is full of talented women, yet the system still does not truly value us. The patriarchal structures we navigate daily require a completely new script. It is time for a remake, and the new storyline requires heart-based, courageous leadership from everyone, especially the men in the room.
The Context
Ladies First has landed on Netflix and is another attempt to make men see the world through the eyes of women. It has been attempted many times, and perhaps it is only really through comedy rom coms that men can actually develop some understanding of how it is to be a woman. Let us ask women what they actually want, and the key messages they want to send to the men and boys of the world.
The Essential Plot
Moving Beyond Micro-Gestures
At the end of the movie, we don't want some nice romantic coupling, or men giving women a seat at the table. We want a big epic ending.
Allyship can absolutely be about those small, everyday actions, addressing microaggressions in the boardroom and celebrating a female colleague's achievements. But we also need grandiose, collective political statements that change the entire tone of our society. We want big, loud declarations that mean something to every woman watching.
The message is simple: listen and believe. Every single day, women are talked over, ignored, and mansplained to. We need men to pause, stop talking, and truly listen to our lived experiences, because our reality is fundamentally different. We need you to believe us. Believe us when we tell you about our experiences without reflecting them back through a male lens. Watch our body language when we politely say things are fine, but our hunched shoulders tell a completely different story.
Don't make us the damsel in distress but as an equal
There is a frequent counter argument from well-meaning men who insist they are actively trying to be protectors and advocates. While we appreciate the protective instinct, we do not simply want to be seen when we need saving. We want to be valued and appreciated generally, just as men do. The remake needs to show non-sexualised positivity, so we don't only get respected by our age or our bodies. We want our intellect, experience, skills, and wisdom to be valued. We want it normalised that a woman can deliver a brilliant, funny presentation without her male colleagues accusing anyone who praises her of having a crush.
We are not a monolith. Being treated as a human individual, rather than a representative of an alien species, is essential. We need men to say our names and advocate for us in the rooms to which we do not have access. We need you to go out of your way to celebrate women, especially women of colour and immigrants, who are spinning so many plates they often cannot even see their own brilliance. I am sure some brilliant writers can make this funny?
We need to see men doing the Home-Work without being for laughs, emasculating them, and putting them in a frilly apron.
How about having examples of healthy partnerships, rather than swapping "gendered roles" filled with bias and stereotypes. You cannot transform the lives of women without acknowledging the heavy mental load women carry outside of the office. Women still perform around 75 percent of the world's unpaid care and housework. In this script, we want men to be seen in the home, competent, willing, and fulfilling critical emotional and mental support. Sure it might not get the laughs but it is the movie plot we need.
We need to see our then men learning to gracefully read and respect a "no," understanding the realities of female bodies, and taking on the mental load of managing family needs so we can finally breathe.
In the workplace, the plot needs to show the happy ever after of true cultural transformation, when leaders openly normalise men taking time off for caregiving. When additional evening events are planned, they must openly discuss the impact on outside commitments. True leadership means making these conversations standard practice, shifting the culture so that work-life integration is a shared reality, not just a women's issue.
The protection plot twist.
We must completely change the phrasing around safety. We do not need society to "protect women from violence." We need society to stop violent men. By simply changing the language, we place the onus entirely on the actual problem. This requires men to hold each other accountable, demanding behavioural therapy, conflict resolution, and healthy communities of men who share positive examples. Perhaps the hapless fool in the story is the one who is stuck in old conditioned patterns and can't see that they are the only one that has not progressed.
Buddies, peers, and leaders in the plot need to be holding every man (and woman) you know accountable for their conditioned behaviour. When a sexist joke is made to gain the approval of mates, do not laugh, let us have the tumble weed moments. Call out the behaviour right there and then, visibly and overtly. Stop allowing men into your inner circle who think downplaying our passion as "emotional" is acceptable.
What women really want is to be treated with the same respect as men, and not be viewed only by our body parts.
The plot needs to show that when a woman wins a race, or lifts something heavy, or does something heroic, that it doesn't need a side line. We don't need women in power suits to be taken seriously. We need to see men being praised and celebrated for their emotional intelligence, not silly blubbering characters. We need to see people get it wrong, and get it right, anchoring that that real work of allyship is never a completed checklist. Things will go wrong, we will fall short. But taking the time to truly understand the women in your life, your colleagues, your partners, your friends, is far more valuable than any performative gesture. Look around your boardroom and your community today.
Have the hard conversations, challenge the everyday ways we are suppressed, and amplify the feminine voices around you. Lead with heart and courage to rewrite the script for the women in your organisation.