'So much around us needs to change'

Lily James, Myha'la and director Rachel Lee Goldenberg discuss their new film Swiped and why women should champion women.

- 

When Whitney Wolfe Herd first started her career as one of the co-founders of Tinder, she bought into the idea that there could only be one woman in the room-until she had to make a difficult exit from the online dating app firm in 2014.

The American entrepreneur and founder of its rival company, Bumble, which gives women the power to make the first move, sued Tinder for sexual harassment and discrimination and has since gone on to become one of the world's youngest female self-made billionaires.

British actress Lily James, who portrays Wolfe in her new biographical drama film Swiped, has a lot of understanding and empathy for how Wolfe navigated that period of her working life.

"It's not our fault the patriarchy exists, and there aren't many seats at the table for women. So, you can understand that if you're driven, ambitious, and want to succeed, it becomes more cutthroat, and there's more competition among other women. You also find that women participate in misogyny," says 36-year-old James, who was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for her portrayal of Pamela Anderson in the biographical series Pam & Tommy.

"So much around us needs to change. I'm never going to blame the women, but I do think it's really important to support other women and bring them along, sharing in their success. I guess we can challenge that by making changes and forcing it not to be the case. But historically, that's been hard."

Swiped, inspired by the real-life story of Bumble's CEO Wolfe, follows a recent university graduate who breaks into the male-dominated tech industry, becoming one of the co-founders of dating app Tinder.