Gender Inequality in Hollywood

By: Maggie Wright

The Academy Awards made history this year and not just because of the fiasco when

presenting the Best Picture Award. There were more nominations for people of color than ever

before. Last year the Oscars sparked controversy for the lack of diversity at the awards,

especially in the acting categories, which consisted of only white nominees.

This year the tables turned when six of the 20 actors nominated were black. The non-

acting categories also had more diversity than years past, but still lacked female nominees. In a

study done by Womens Media Center, it was found that out of 187 non-acting nominees, only

37 were women. That means less than 20 percent of this years nominees were women.

We have a saying, If you can see it, you can be it, Julie Burton, president of the

Womens Media Center, said. But in the crucial behind-the-scenes non-acting roles, our

Womens Media Center Investigation shows that what you see is 80 percent of all nominees are

men. Four out of five nominees are menmeaning male voices and perspectives are largely

responsible for what we see on screen.

The Academy Awards only mirrors the larger problem. The Academy is not to be blamed

for the lack of women nominated at the Academy Awards, the fault is within the industry itself.

Another report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film found that

women represented only 17 percent of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers,

editors and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films.

Dr. Martha Lauzen, a professor at San Diego State University, has studied the

representation of women behind the camera for over 20 years. She found that in 2014, 84 percent
of films had no female directors, 80 percent had no female writers, 78 percent had no female

editors, and 92 percent had no female cinematographers.

The hiring pattern tends to be one of hiring people like the ones who have gone before

and those people are overwhelmingly men, Susanna White, BAFTA award-winning director,

said. For anyone, male or female, to get to direct a feature film is really hard, but for the women

on the board it just seemed so much harder.

There are some parts of the film industry that are predominantly female, like costume and

wardrobe and casting. But these departments are predominantly female because they have been

perceived as traditionally feminine according to Stephen Follows, a British producer and writer

who conducted a report on women in the film industry.

People underestimate how much discrimination can go on. There is no one monitoring

and no one challenging the pattern that is replicating itself, that is why nothing is changing,

director and producer Beryl Richards said.

The film industry is an industry built around storytelling. Men alone cannot represent the

stories of all people accurately and effectively.

Film is hugely influential and reflects our world back at us, said White. Fewer films

directed by women tends to mean fewer films with strong female leads. ... Films directed by

women have a different make up of extras too - more women seated around boardroom tables,

more women having meaningful conversations rather than crying when things get hard, even

films that are just more fun.

Representation in the film industry is important because films represent our society.

Historically, women have been undervalued, but in the film industry, which most view as

progressive, it may be surprising that women do not have more opportunities.

 It's not that I think the industry is institutionally sexist but I really don't think this has

even been a conversation and so I would hope even being conscious of the gender split will

begin to instigate change, Follows said.