AOLTV: As the fall TV season approaches, it's worth taking a closer look at the people who have created and written the scripted fare you'll see. In the 2006-2007 television season, 35 percent of the writers of broadcast network, prime-time programs were women, according to an annual study by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. In the 2010-2011 season, that number had dropped by more than half, to 15 percent. What happened?
Friday, September 09, 2011
Why Is Television Losing Women Writers? Veteran Producers Weigh In
AOLTV: As the fall TV season approaches, it's worth taking a closer look at the people who have created and written the scripted fare you'll see. In the 2006-2007 television season, 35 percent of the writers of broadcast network, prime-time programs were women, according to an annual study by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. In the 2010-2011 season, that number had dropped by more than half, to 15 percent. What happened?
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I was disappointed to hear about these statistics-especially with other forms of entertainment doing better on the gender equality leaderboard (we have FINALLY handed a woman the Oscar for Best Director, after all). The article is right to worry that women are being shut out simply because Hollywood doesn't think they know how to write the kinds of shows that are currently in demand: those that target white males ages 18-49. Women may not have experienced that life, but they have certainly seen it, and without a doubt know how to cater to its needs as far as TV writing goes. I only hope that the industry recognizes what a disservice it is doing to women by not allowing them the chance to prove themselves and move up the TV ladder, or even into the Writers' room.
Ah ha! An explanation for the decline in writing everywhere. Honestly I'm not surprised. With television shows like "Playboy Club" being churned out, Gloria Steinem condemned television, I hope to god that there aren't women behind them. I find more and more that television shows nowadays, like "Playboy Club", are blatantly offensive, yet try to insert "progressive" story lines like lesbianism and women's rights; when in reality there are still women running around in tight lingerie! I hope that when the economy is on the rise it will bring back women with a force.
I think that not having diversity in general in a group of people making art can be damaging, or at least less creative. There is something to be said for having all perspectives and when that is not accomplished you lose something. Especially with something like tv which is generally portraying "real life".
30 Rock actually has a great take on this, Lis Lemon is constantly the only woman writer in the room, and generally the other writers are so immature that they can't function. The other women, are this crazy foreign woman, and a ditsy blond secretary that every man lusts after.
From this article it sounds like even if there are other women in writing rooms it is generally a men centered work environment. Which both gives a different flavor to shows and also makes working in tv a different for women. It means that any woman working in that environment has to be twice as good as any man to be considered coherent. Or that women are only used when issues regarding women are brought up.
It still surprised me that women are referred to as “minorities” in the work place. I was completely shocked that women are still fighting for their voices in the workplace, especially television where, as one quote said, the viewers are primarily women. I am disappointed that women are seen as diversity tools rather than knowledgeable attributes to a creative team and wonder why we haven’t gotten past these norms. Also, the preconceived notion that women only write “soapier” tv is delusional. What’s most frustrating about Women’s History and women’s role in society today is that there still is not much of a development in the discontinuation of emotional clichés associated with women. Women are thought to be more emotionally attached to stories or situations, or aren’t taken seriously when emotions are not the forefront of a story line. Why can’t we be gender-blind and have one common goal is producing television: the audience composed of two types of people – male and female.
It's important to have a lot of diversity in any creative group; each race, gender, and socioeconomic level brings a different perspective and different experiences that can have a positive influence on the writing process. I'm honestly more worried that there are so few minorities in writing, although I am shocked that the number of female writers has decreased so much recently.
The issue of networks demanding that shows are written for white men starts a vicious cycle; if shows are written for white men between 18 and 49, then they will continue to be the largest demographic that watches television. Someone just needs to break the cycle.
I find this surprising, to be honest. I know women still have trouble competing with men a lot of times, but these numbers shock me. I never would have thought they would be so low. Even after reading the article though, I still don't understand why this is the case. What is it about women that make them not able to be hired. Is it still sexist views that stem from the 50s and earlier? We have to have made some progress since then. Plus the idea that a woman would only be supporting herself whereas a man would be supporting his family is ludicrous. I was raised by a single mother and the thought of a woman not supporting her family seems crazy to me. Most women work nowadays regardless of whether they're mothers, single or not. We have to get past these archaic stereotypes.
Having worked on the The Guild this summer, I am fully confident that web-based media is the future of television. Felicia Day and Kim Evey were mentioned in the article as being the women behind The Guild,and its true. Along with the show's director Sean Becker, these three are changing the way the world views web series. They are currently on season 5, a remarkably long life among web series. Felicia is a brilliant writer and Kim and Sean provide excellent insight. Television is progressively killing itself as an industry as evident by 195,700 former subscribers canceling their TV/Satellite subscriptions last quater. Fox and ABC are pulling back on their shows that they were releasing on the web, and as a result they are going to lose a lot of viewers. People don't have the time to sit at home and wait for their shows to come on,t hey don't want to sit through commercials, and not everyone has a DVR. The treatment of women in the workplace is just another thing on the road to making television obsolete. Hopefully women who want to write, direct, ect... will follow in Felicia's footsteps and pave their own way in the industry.
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