Women and Hollywood: Just over a third of theater roles in England are for women, according to a 2014 study by Tonic Theatre.
To help correct the gender lopsidedness on stage, the London-based Sphinx Theatre Company has introduced a new test to help playwrights, producers and other decision-makers increase female representation and employment.
4 comments:
This is such an interesting concept especially when you look at the breakdowns of women in theater vs. women in film. Theater, at least from my experience, is an easier field for women to break into. It's still difficult, but it's becoming less of a boys club than film is. I was really surprised to read that only 37% of roles are women. Taking into account roles that don't follow a gender binary, I wonder what the male percentage is. Call me jaded, but I bet you that they included non-gendered roles in there to up the percentage. Maybe I just don't trust the news anymore. Now that we have this updated Bechdel test, we can really start to move away from flimsy roles for women and focus on writing more comprehensive parts. Although, you can't change the past. Pieces will still be sexist and poorly written and they will be put on by theater companies around the world. However, the Sphinx test will allow those difficult conversations about stereotypes to happen, which will ultimately benefit the female theatrical population.
I would be interested in seeing the outcome of this survey. It is talked about how there are not a lot of women roles in theatre all the time but to actually talk with people who work in the industry and get statistics from it is a good way to get some definite answers. What I am curious about is jobs outside of theatre. We read about women in the entertainment industry but what about other industries? Is this the same kind of statistic for other jobs too? Why is it such a big deal for theatre and film if other jobs have the same problem too?
I'm so happy that this is something our industry is focusing on. It's easy, because theatre is so generally liberal, to assume that we really focus on equality but there are so many instances where we fall short. It will be a work in progress just like everything else we do, but overall it just makes me happy that this is something we are actively working towards in our field. I feel like there is always a current of leftover sexism between women in shops and in positions of authority and I think that women have to remember to stand up for that, but I am grateful to have so many men accepting that is a problem and working towards a solution. What an army of humans determined to make the world better.
Yay! I'm pretty stoked about a new test specifically designed for theater, which generally has a different scene structure than TV or film. Hopefully, even if a company doesn't commit to choosing plays predominantly based on this new Sphinx test, they at least consult it so that they are taking these criteria into account when they are planning their season.
I do wish they went into the actual, specific parameters of the test a little bit more. I understand that they probably don't want to unduly influence the results of the survey, but I felt a little bit teased by the "NEW BECHDEL TEST!!" headline and then... very little description about what the test involves. Unless it really is just those couple of questions quoted in the article, in which case... this doesn't seem like a very comprehensive test.
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