Odyssey: In high school theatre, it is a common truth that the boys are few and far between. There's typically at least twice as many girls in drama classes, and the teachers are also mostly female. As we grow older the balance between men and women actors never changes, but the opportunities for men somehow far outnumber those for women.
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The vicious cycle of sexism in theater is something that is deeply ingrained into our perception of what this writer calls “the boys’ club of theater”. It’s so true that the lack of female representation at the very top is what trickles down all the way to the individually hired actors and technicians. When the producers and directors and hirers are all men who choose to produce/ put on shows written by men which feature almost exclusively male leads and shallow female side roles. Fun Home and Waitress are both good examples of what can happen when women are given the opportunity to take the lead (not that women need to be “given” anything in order to succeed, but in theater, so few women even have the chance to go as far as these shows have). As a young woman who is excited to go into the theater business when I graduate, it’s disheartening to realize that sexism is everywhere, even in what we like to think of as the accepting and diverse world of theater. I truly do think that the change will be small yet mighty, gradual yet rewarding. Once women are able to break through the glass ceiling and land those big roles as hirers and directors and producers, I think it will all trickle down from there in a positive way.
It is sad to see that one of the most diverse and accepting industries is currently so focused on the aesthetic of the people in them as opposed to the talent seeping from the performance itself. I understand that sex sells and that producers’ main stake in any show or project is money, and therefore they will want to sell as much as possible, but in reality that’s killing the art form of theatre. Imagine where the industry would be if every production was like Fun Home. Real, true-to-life characters with arcs and diversity and talent. Oh my gosh, does that show have talent. If all writers could, well, write characters that were true to people and were throwing and imaginative and awesome, then shows would be forced to look for talent in the secret places and puts looks aside for that one person who can really capture the dynamic quality of the main role.
The arts are a lot about the way that a person looks. Shows can be very specific, and can ask for a certain body type or race or gender. And for men this isn't as much of a problem because we don't look at mend bodies the way that we look at women's bodies. When we see women in theater we see them more as objects than we do as artists. When we think about the chorus girl, we don't think of her as someone who is doing art or someone who has to be super talented the first requirement is is she 5'7" and beautiful. For all of history women have been seen as less than men, and we are making steps but the leaders of theater still see women as objects and not as artists or people. Misogyny in theater is very present, it is something that I experience everyday, and a topic the women in my class discuss a lot. But as women we have never gotten what we deserved by waiting for the world to figure it out, we have to demand it. We have to start telling ourselves that we deserve to be equals, and demanding it from our peers.
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