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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Study: On-Screen Gender Inequality Persists in Hollywood
Backstage: A survey of the top 100 grossing movies of 2009 showed that male speaking roles continued to clearly outweigh female roles and that females showed more skin on-screen, the "LA Times" reported.
This article reminds me of something called the Bechdel Test, which tests for gender bias and female presence. For a movie to pass, 1.It includes at least two women 2. who have at least one conversation 3. About something other than a man or men This test serves to highlight that most females portrayed in movies are portrayed in relation to males. It should be noted that this is not a test for feminism in a movie. And it turns out that there are few movies which pass this test.
As much as we want to deny that gender roles is a thing of the past- it is hard to deny that they are not present in our future. The idea that men are powerful, women- in a more submissive position, and stereotypes such as this are not a thing of the past: although we believe they have slowly faded away- they are not gone, they are just more easily hidden. I found this article interesting in the hard facts: percentages of males versus female directors/ workers in the business truly illustrate the relevance of this gender inequality theory. Although I don't believe that such measurements are extremely accurate- they definitely are telling that gender patterns still happen to be relevant nowadays.
It's sad to see that there is still such a discrepancy between male and female roles both on and off the screen in Hollywood. I think what is particularly strange and a bit scary is how the trends have stayed so consistent over time. As others have noted, many of us like to think that gender inequality is behind us, but as much as in our own industry as in others, it's something that we all still struggle with and are trying to work towards greater inequality, but surveys and studies such as these show that while we have made some strides, there is still a ways to go
The inequality of those on screen is sad, but it only reflects what is seen in society as a whole. Gender roles are still prevalent in today's society, but are decreasing. It is unfortunate that such roles still exist but it is going to take a lot longer and much more dedication to going against them for the roles to completely disappear. While the Bechdel Test does begin to point out these gender roles in movies, the statistics presented in this article really drive the point home. It will be interesting to see how these percentages change as our generation's artist and those below us begin creating movies and other art.
This is a fascinating article because it shows using concrete data the remaining gender inequality in film. People are always saying how prevalent gender roles still are but it is rare and refreshing to find an actual study about it. The next step here would be to make more of the general public aware of just what they are watching on screen. I know that next time I watch a movie I am going to pay more attention to the ratio of women to men and perhaps will try to use the Bechdel Test that Cathy wrote about. Of course gender roles are still rampant in society, but whenever people bring it up it makes me wonder how much equality is actually possible? How much further can we realistically improve past this point?
When reading these types of articles, part of me always says "don't go near that one, don't comment on that article." I don't like to be caught up in this type of conversation, not because my thought are offensive, but because no matter what I say...I am a man and I will not understand what a women has to go through, but I will say that these numbers are not astonishing. I could predict as much. I wish that there was more equality in our business and that we could set the trend for all other industries, but it doesn't appear to be working out that way. Hopefully as a manager, I will play a role in gender equality. I will always look at the best person for the job, not the best man or woman.
The movie industry isn't evil like this article might make it seems - its just representing the times. Yes, movies are showing gender bias and are exemplifying gender roles, but that's because that's how most of society view men and women. If we really want to change that, we're going to have to start by changing society's attitude. Then, as people views and interests change, that will trickle down into movies. Obviously over the past decade we've made tremendous progress in terms of gender equality, which is not to say that we don't have a long ways to go. I'll be interested to see what happens when trans* issues start to incorporate into the mainstream gender equality conversation, as well as how that will effect movies and theatre. Will we start see see more transgender characters? Will characters' be less based in binary genders entirely as the world (hopefully) shifts in that direction?
I am not surprised that women on average show way more skin in movies than men do. I am only slightly surprised that on average only one third of the speaking roles are women. But it makes sense there are a lot of TV shows or movies that you can think of where there are two guys to one girl, harry potter, Twilight, Vampire diaries, the Dark Night, Fight Club, Star Wars. But the thing that surprised me most about this article was “When it came to behind-the-camera jobs though, only 3.6 percent of the directors and 13.5 percent of the writers of the analyzed movies were female, according to the survey.” I knew that it was low but I never would have thought it was this low. It is hard to deny gender differences in Hollywood when they are presented to you this way.
I don't understand why the movie industry is so focused on bringing in male audiences when women buy more movie tickets. However, the rest of this article is not surprising at all. The part that makes the most angry is the statistic about the prevalence partial nudity and revealing clothing among 13-20 year old actresses. One of the worst messages society and media are sending children right now is the idea that it is okay to sexualize children and that little girls should strive to be attractive and sexy.
These articles have a tendency to be very opinionated and trends follow with biased information to support the writers case.This is a magnifying glass on an industry even though the attack is on a factor that draws from most all forms of entertainment and story telling since the beginning of our existence. we have as a staple of our culture, stories of dominant male representation, most notably from a history of male dominant society. putting a target on a single industry for its indulgence in it, i really don't commend. However, i am a man and the political correctness of our society, tends to disagree.
I would have to agree with Keeboch on this one- while gender roles on screen are depressing, they are a reflection of society, which is really even more upsetting. The overarching goal of a film is to make a profit, so most films are going to show us what we want to see. I read an article not too long ago describing a study in which films with scantily dressed, beautiful women were compared to those featuring average-looking, more standard females, and- not surprisingly- the films with beautiful women ended up grossing more in the box office. Hollywood is going to keep using a formula that works with its audiences, so in order to change that standard, we as the audience are also in part to blame for establishing these gender roles.
So yes, we all agree that there is a gender bias, and as far as backstage and creative end jobs are concerned, I will admit the disparity is fairly large. However, when it comes to actors I am not upset at all because it is not like there are roles that I think a woman should play that are played by a man. They are not taking opportunity away from women. It is just that people do not want to see a woman playing Iron Man (I mean, man is in the bloody name). And when I think about movies, particularly super hero and comic book movies, which have become increasingly popular, I would rather see the villains' cronies as a group of rough and tumble men than see a man take out a hoard of angry women. In RomComs when a woman goes out somewhere (a bar, park, mall) multiple men may stop and hit on her while women are less likely to hit on a random man. So of course there are more male speaking roles, even if it is that one line, "Hey babe, wanna blankety-blah." And as an audience we prefer to see this gender gap. So I would say having a third is pretty good.
I think Meg brings up a good point in that ultimately the disparity between genders in film must ultimately be traced back to the disparity between genders of the writers who create the roles. There have been many articles posted here that support this, and until those statistics change I don't think we can expect a change in the representation of women on film. The only other way for a change in statistic would be for audiences to demand, through ticket sales etc. a more equal and fair representation of women and girls onstage.
I am not surprised that men are still dominant. It is a sad thing to see as people have noted, but you still need a push if you want change. After women have been included in the workforce there has been a downfall in the push to the top. Only in some industries do you see all the ads about having more women in the workforce. I don't want to be in the middle of arguments but is it always about equality and inequality? People might have certain preferences but I feel people now a days have much less inequality in job selection. Even if the inequality is still relevant and not disappearing, we will have another push at some point. It will always continue, nothing will ever be perfect.
14 comments:
This article reminds me of something called the Bechdel Test, which tests for gender bias and female presence. For a movie to pass,
1.It includes at least two women
2. who have at least one conversation
3. About something other than a man or men
This test serves to highlight that most females portrayed in movies are portrayed in relation to males. It should be noted that this is not a test for feminism in a movie. And it turns out that there are few movies which pass this test.
As much as we want to deny that gender roles is a thing of the past- it is hard to deny that they are not present in our future. The idea that men are powerful, women- in a more submissive position, and stereotypes such as this are not a thing of the past: although we believe they have slowly faded away- they are not gone, they are just more easily hidden. I found this article interesting in the hard facts: percentages of males versus female directors/ workers in the business truly illustrate the relevance of this gender inequality theory. Although I don't believe that such measurements are extremely accurate- they definitely are telling that gender patterns still happen to be relevant nowadays.
It's sad to see that there is still such a discrepancy between male and female roles both on and off the screen in Hollywood. I think what is particularly strange and a bit scary is how the trends have stayed so consistent over time. As others have noted, many of us like to think that gender inequality is behind us, but as much as in our own industry as in others, it's something that we all still struggle with and are trying to work towards greater inequality, but surveys and studies such as these show that while we have made some strides, there is still a ways to go
The inequality of those on screen is sad, but it only reflects what is seen in society as a whole. Gender roles are still prevalent in today's society, but are decreasing. It is unfortunate that such roles still exist but it is going to take a lot longer and much more dedication to going against them for the roles to completely disappear.
While the Bechdel Test does begin to point out these gender roles in movies, the statistics presented in this article really drive the point home. It will be interesting to see how these percentages change as our generation's artist and those below us begin creating movies and other art.
This is a fascinating article because it shows using concrete data the remaining gender inequality in film. People are always saying how prevalent gender roles still are but it is rare and refreshing to find an actual study about it. The next step here would be to make more of the general public aware of just what they are watching on screen. I know that next time I watch a movie I am going to pay more attention to the ratio of women to men and perhaps will try to use the Bechdel Test that Cathy wrote about. Of course gender roles are still rampant in society, but whenever people bring it up it makes me wonder how much equality is actually possible? How much further can we realistically improve past this point?
When reading these types of articles, part of me always says "don't go near that one, don't comment on that article." I don't like to be caught up in this type of conversation, not because my thought are offensive, but because no matter what I say...I am a man and I will not understand what a women has to go through, but I will say that these numbers are not astonishing. I could predict as much. I wish that there was more equality in our business and that we could set the trend for all other industries, but it doesn't appear to be working out that way. Hopefully as a manager, I will play a role in gender equality. I will always look at the best person for the job, not the best man or woman.
The movie industry isn't evil like this article might make it seems - its just representing the times. Yes, movies are showing gender bias and are exemplifying gender roles, but that's because that's how most of society view men and women.
If we really want to change that, we're going to have to start by changing society's attitude. Then, as people views and interests change, that will trickle down into movies.
Obviously over the past decade we've made tremendous progress in terms of gender equality, which is not to say that we don't have a long ways to go. I'll be interested to see what happens when trans* issues start to incorporate into the mainstream gender equality conversation, as well as how that will effect movies and theatre. Will we start see see more transgender characters? Will characters' be less based in binary genders entirely as the world (hopefully) shifts in that direction?
I am not surprised that women on average show way more skin in movies than men do. I am only slightly surprised that on average only one third of the speaking roles are women. But it makes sense there are a lot of TV shows or movies that you can think of where there are two guys to one girl, harry potter, Twilight, Vampire diaries, the Dark Night, Fight Club, Star Wars. But the thing that surprised me most about this article was “When it came to behind-the-camera jobs though, only 3.6 percent of the directors and 13.5 percent of the writers of the analyzed movies were female, according to the survey.” I knew that it was low but I never would have thought it was this low. It is hard to deny gender differences in Hollywood when they are presented to you this way.
I don't understand why the movie industry is so focused on bringing in male audiences when women buy more movie tickets. However, the rest of this article is not surprising at all. The part that makes the most angry is the statistic about the prevalence partial nudity and revealing clothing among 13-20 year old actresses. One of the worst messages society and media are sending children right now is the idea that it is okay to sexualize children and that little girls should strive to be attractive and sexy.
These articles have a tendency to be very opinionated and trends follow with biased information to support the writers case.This is a magnifying glass on an industry even though the attack is on a factor that draws from most all forms of entertainment and story telling since the beginning of our existence. we have as a staple of our culture, stories of dominant male representation, most notably from a history of male dominant society. putting a target on a single industry for its indulgence in it, i really don't commend. However, i am a man and the political correctness of our society, tends to disagree.
I would have to agree with Keeboch on this one- while gender roles on screen are depressing, they are a reflection of society, which is really even more upsetting. The overarching goal of a film is to make a profit, so most films are going to show us what we want to see. I read an article not too long ago describing a study in which films with scantily dressed, beautiful women were compared to those featuring average-looking, more standard females, and- not surprisingly- the films with beautiful women ended up grossing more in the box office. Hollywood is going to keep using a formula that works with its audiences, so in order to change that standard, we as the audience are also in part to blame for establishing these gender roles.
So yes, we all agree that there is a gender bias, and as far as backstage and creative end jobs are concerned, I will admit the disparity is fairly large. However, when it comes to actors I am not upset at all because it is not like there are roles that I think a woman should play that are played by a man. They are not taking opportunity away from women. It is just that people do not want to see a woman playing Iron Man (I mean, man is in the bloody name). And when I think about movies, particularly super hero and comic book movies, which have become increasingly popular, I would rather see the villains' cronies as a group of rough and tumble men than see a man take out a hoard of angry women. In RomComs when a woman goes out somewhere (a bar, park, mall) multiple men may stop and hit on her while women are less likely to hit on a random man. So of course there are more male speaking roles, even if it is that one line, "Hey babe, wanna blankety-blah." And as an audience we prefer to see this gender gap. So I would say having a third is pretty good.
I think Meg brings up a good point in that ultimately the disparity between genders in film must ultimately be traced back to the disparity between genders of the writers who create the roles. There have been many articles posted here that support this, and until those statistics change I don't think we can expect a change in the representation of women on film. The only other way for a change in statistic would be for audiences to demand, through ticket sales etc. a more equal and fair representation of women and girls onstage.
I am not surprised that men are still dominant. It is a sad thing to see as people have noted, but you still need a push if you want change. After women have been included in the workforce there has been a downfall in the push to the top. Only in some industries do you see all the ads about having more women in the workforce. I don't want to be in the middle of arguments but is it always about equality and inequality? People might have certain preferences but I feel people now a days have much less inequality in job selection. Even if the inequality is still relevant and not disappearing, we will have another push at some point. It will always continue, nothing will ever be perfect.
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