THE HIDDEN GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE CINEMA
The cinema industry holds a special place in the world and the film industry is arguably the highest profile of all the creative industries, with considerable cultural, social as well as economic weight. There is a significant under-depiction of female directors in all levels of the cinema industry. The number of women working in the film industry reached a historic high in 2019, but men still outstrip women four to one in key roles.
Gender in Global Film Industry
According to a
survey by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego
University, women made up 20% of behind-the-scenes positions on the top 100
domestic grossing films of 2019, up from 16% in 2018. (Wheeler, 2020). However,
when it comes to key jobs like director and cinematographer, men continue to
govern and dominate. And also, with women holding 43% of the music supervisors
and 27% of the production roles in the top 500 films released in 2019, but only
for 2% of cinematography roles on the top 100 films released. And, Hollywood's
gender divide shown by analysis of this season's Oscar
contenders. (Wheeler, 2020).
Only One Woman Has Ever Won an Oscar For Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow For the Hurt Locker In 2009
According to Verhoeven, Coate and Zemaityte the comparative dearth of women directors is well
documented, less analysis has been undertaken of the relative access audiences
have to films directed by women. A significant study released in 2016 by the
website Slated, found that of the 1,591 feature films released theatrically on
at least one screen in the United States between 2010 and 2015, films directed
by women faced a distribution gap. According to them, women only directed 7 percent of the top 250
grossing films. But in South America and the United Kingdom, only slightly
over 2 percent of screenings were of films directed by a woman, while in North
America and Asia the situation is only slightly improved with just under 3
percent of screenings by sole women directors. In Scandinavia, the situation is
markedly better but still falls far short of parity with around 7 percent of
screenings devoted to films directed by women. (Verhoeven et al., 2019)
Gender equality and inequality in cinema
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When persons of all genders have equal rights, duties, and
opportunities, this is referred to as gender equality. Lauzen (2018) conducted
research in this field and discovered gender disparities in the film industry.
Males made up two-thirds of the speaking portions. And also, Half as many women
were given an on-screen voice. Her research also reveals that males continue to
dominate action films, with female roles embodying both drama and action films,
with just 16 percent of action characters played by women. The state of science
fiction has deteriorated, with just 8% of key protagonists being female. Men
played over 4900 characters, while women played slightly over 2000. Scripts, in
particular, have 7X more male writers than female writers. ("Gender Inequality in Film Infographic for
2018").
There are no female directors were nominated for this year’s Golden Globe awards or in the best director category at the 2020 Oscars. Lauzen’s analysis shows that women are more likely to be chosen for lead roles when there is at least one female director or writer in a film. And also, when women direct, more than 60% of main characters in a film are female, as against to fewer than a third when men are directing. ("Gender Inequality in Film Infographic for 2018"). Gender pay gap is real and nobody is spared regardless of which industry they come from. In the film industry, the gender pay gap appears to be significantly larger. In 2017, a comparison of the highest-paid male and female actors revealed an average salary of $57.4 million for men and $21.8 million for women. ("Exploring the data on Hollywood's gender pay gap", 2021). Women are also mostly missing in areas like production, direction, and cinematography. But if there were more female directors, gender equality might improve across the board.
Gender stereotypes in cinema
Many
people have gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are beliefs concerning the
abilities, attitudes, preferences and behaviors of a ‘typical’ man or a ‘typical’
woman (Mealey, 2000). Also, Gender can be defined as highly simplified images,
beliefs, attitudes, or assumptions about a particular group of people.
Stereotypes are generally negative and are based on assumed gender norms,
roles, and relationships. According to Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of Plan
International “The biggest picture is that gender discrimination and harmful
stereotypes still dominate on the screen.” 15% of female characters saw the
camera focused on their body parts in slow motion, compared to 4% of men. There
is also an opportunity for storytellers and content creators to support and
influence the aspirations of girls and women in entertainment and the media and
to stop fortifying damaging gender stereotypes. (Mitchell,
2019).
The industry has somewhat moved away from hegemonic masculinity (as in “Saving Private Ryan”) and have attempted to incorporate feminist themes and discussion on gender equality for example .The 2017 movie Hidden Figures does an impressive job of portraying women realistically with intricate character development and an unbelievable representation of the historical wrongs committed against women, especially in the context of ignoring female contribution to the fields of math and Science.
“Mad Max Fury Road” is another such example. It's a feminist film about sex
slaves fleeing and battling against an authoritarian patriarch. According to
Ensler, Mad Max: Fury Road is a feminist film and Miller himself is a feminist
who wanted to create empowered characters, not victims, sidekicks or damsels in
distress. The film's feminism, according to Ensler, is mostly represented by the
female characters portrayed as fierce and strong, whilst also being
compassionate and loving. (Smith, 2021)
"Bombshell" is a feminist film about the issue of sexual
harassment, and Bombell shows how an anti-feminist culture can be incorporated
into the workplace habit of abuse of power by senior male figures. The film also talks about how women, who are silent about
their own experience of bullying, can reluctantly or unwillingly perpetuate
that culture by failing to account for the perpetrators. The film also shows
that threats of promotion and job loss or demotion are used to force and
intimidate people into accepting unwanted sexual advancement. film shows that not all people react in the same way to
sexual harassment, it can have devastating long-term emotional and professional
consequences for women. (Flood, 2020).
There are some contradictions between these genders not only in international cinema but also in Sri Lankan cinema. There are various differences between gender and cinema in Sri Lanka also. As an example, Anomaa Rajakaruna has travelled extensively in Sri Lanka documenting the lives of community groups, particularly the lives of women in these communities and has addressed issues such as women in armed conflict, sexual harassment, molestations, displacement and violence against women.
There is indeed a lack of females in creative roles in the cinema industry as the statistics that outline female participation are still vastly low. And it, demonstrate the many flaws in the cinema the film industry, in particular Hollywood and other film industries. Female-domestic gender stereotypes, violence against women and white-washing in films is commonplace and is normalized through films. More females are required in creative roles in order to challenge the stereotypical representations that pervade film media. Thus, it appears that this gender presence is strong in the cinema as well. That is to say, in this cinema can see various differences and contradictions in terms of gender.
Reference List
Exploring the data on Hollywood's gender pay gap. The Conversation. (2021). Retrieved 5 August
2021, from https://theconversation.com/exploring-the-data-on-hollywoods-gender-pay-gap-127414.
Verhoeven, D., Coate, B., & Zemaityte, V. (2019). Re-Distributing Gender in the Global Film Industry: Beyond #MeToo and #MeThree. Media Industries Journal, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0006.108
Gender distribution of Oscar nominees 2021 |
Statista. Statista. (2021).
Retrieved 5 August 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/696559/oscar-nominees-gender-distribution-category/.
Mind the Gap: gender equality in the film
industry. Diversity of Cultural
Expressions. (2019). Retrieved 25 February 2019, from https://en.unesco.org/creativity/news/mind-gap-gender-equality-film-industry.
Study on Gender Inequality in the Film Industry -
EWA Network. EWA Women.
(2017). Retrieved 5 August 2021, from https://www.ewawomen.com/research/.
Somvichian-Clausen, A. (2017). Top 10
films that break gender and racial stereotypes. TheHill. Retrieved 29
January 2017, from https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/473687-top-10-films-that-break-gender-and-racial.
Here's how gender stereotypes are plaguing
Hollywood films despite progress. World Economic Forum. (2020). Retrieved 14 February 2020, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/women-hollywood-starring-role-equality-diversity/.
Mitchell, W. (2019). Films still have
harmful stereotypes for female leaders, new research confirms. Screen.
Retrieved 1 October 2019, from https://www.screendaily.com/news/films-still-have-harmful-stereotypes-for-female-leaders-new-research-confirms/5143368.article.
Female Filmmakers First. The United Kingdom’s international organization
for cultural relations and educational opportunities. (2021). Retrieved 10
August 2021, from https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/arts/female-filmmakers-first.
Gender Inequality in Film Infographic for 2018. New York Film Academy Blog. (2018). Retrieved
10 August 2021, from https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/gender-inequality-in-film-infographic-updated-in-2018/.
Smith, B. (2021). Is "Mad Max: Fury
Road" a Feminist Film?. Freshwriting.nd.edu. Retrieved 11 August 2021,
from https://freshwriting.nd.edu/volumes/2017/essays/is-mad-max-fury-road-a-feminist-film.
Flood, M. (2020). Bombshell's narratives
depicts a confused feminism, Hollywood's lukewarm attempt to represent #MeToo
movement-Entertainment News , Firstpost. Firstpost. Retrieved 24 February
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Very much informative. Kudos to the author😊
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