When you think of the film industry, what comes to mind? Is it King Kong hanging from the Empire State Building? Or Indiana Jones running down a jungle path with a huge rock chasing behind him? Or is it when Cher from Clueless finally releases that her step-brother is the love of her life? Either way, I can tell you what you aren’t thinking of- the struggles of women workers in this industry.

In an article written by Dr. Amanda Cole, she attempts to explain the awful truth about why women aren’t making strives in the film industry. With her statistics and charts alone, the results are shocking in terms of how divided this creative industry is. In the chats below, Cole’s shows the divide for the percentage of members in craft category by gender and the percentage of male and female directors.

“What’s Wrong With This Picture/ Amanda Coles

But wait- that’s not all! Let us look at the film awards for a real indication of the lack of gender in this field. In an article written by TIME, they review the rarity of women winning big awards in the industry. In the article, they state that, “over the course of 75 years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has nominated a woman for the Best Director prize just seven times”. Out of these seven women, only ONE woman has ever won. One. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse- think again.  First airing in 1929, only 4 women have ever been nominated and only ONE woman has ever taken home an Oscar. For these off-screen women, this is shocking and frankly unacceptable.

In the video below made by Glamour Magazine in 2016, they present very well known actors, actresses, directors and producers speaking on this cultural issue.

Glamour Magazine / YouTube

This issue doesn’t stop behind the scenes. For women working as actresses, it only seems to get worse. According to Lauzen, as being cited by Murphy in 2015, in 2013, women made up less than one third of speaking parts in the top grossing domestic films in the United States, and they were only 15% of protagonists.

So why is this happening? Is it because women aren’t capable or aren’t as smart as their male co-stars or opponents? From these statistics alone, we can see a divide and inequality between men and women and just how male dominated this industry is. Perhaps, if we look at the life of an actress and the struggles she faces, this may help us understand why women don’t stick around long enough to be promoted or excel in the film industry.

1) Gender Wage Gap

IMDb / Google  IMDb / Google

The gender wage gap is not a new concept for many creative industries. The film industry is no different in this case. One of the most famous and recent examples of the gender wage gap was the re-shooting for “All the Money in the World“. Covered by the Washington Post in early 2018, Michelle Williams and Mark Walhberg were called back to reshoot a few scenes for the movie. After wrapping, it was later revealed that Williams was paid only $1000 for 10 days of work, while her male co-star was paid $1.5 million. WHAT? Michelle Williams has been an actress for over 25 years in the film industry and yet that didn’t seem to matter when she was compared to the leading man.

Mamamia / Google

Also covered in this article is Jennifer Lawrence feeling the pain of the wage gap. For her work in “American Hustle“, it was later revealed that Lawrence was paid almost half of what her male co-stars did. She was even more of a central role than some men that were paid more. The actresses even wrote an essay addressing her feelings on the gender wage gap.

In another article written by the Telegraph, they too review the gender wage gap and how unacceptable it is. They provide a chart (shown below) of the highest paid actors and actresses in the film industry. I’m not sure about you- but I don’t even recognize some of the names before the first woman is shown on this list.

2) No Recognition & Poor Representation

Amazon / Google IMP Awards / Google Amazon / Google Pinterest / Google

Probably the most traditional of norms for women in society is them falling to the feet of some man. These seems to always be this systematic assumption that woman aren’t capable of accomplishing anything without a man by their side. Visuals such as the ones above are great indicators of the social norms that are pushed in our society. Images such as these show women as being over-sexualized, not taken seriously or “need saving” and are smaller then men. This cultural assumption doesn’t allow women to attain their own success and these on-screen visuals are certainly taken off-screen.

IMP Awards / Google

Let’s get real. When a woman does direct or produce a film, are you even aware? Do you think she gets the recognition that a male director does? Here’s an example, the movie Selma was a movie done in 2014 about the story of Martin Luther King Jr. A beautiful story and a very well-done and well recognized movie. This film was directed by Ava DuVernay (Yes, A WOMAN!) but NOTHING about the marketing or recognition came from this film being directed by a woman. Ava is completely out shun by her leading male and no attention was brought to accomplishment.

In an article written by Forbes, they discuss the lack of representation for women in the film industry. Written in 2015, this article is a little outdated but the ideas still stand today. They state that, “Hollywood has a systemic problem. There is a very real sexism problem in Hollywood and the men who run the town can’t really keep saying that the male-dominated films they churn out are the only ones that make money”. Even when a woman directs a film, they are traditionally overlooked by their leading males. This issue in Hollywood and the film industry in general won’t go away without some kind of intervention of these issues.

3) “Me Too”

People / Google

Well is being under paid and receiving no recognition wasn’t enough- you are going to love this. Women in the film industry are being harassed and forced into situations to get themselves ahead. In the image above, you will find the villainous Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein was a famous film producer in Hollywood that was accused by 50+ women of sexually assaulting them. Covered by the Guardian, the only name a few, some of these women included Cara Delevigne, Gwyethe Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and many more. Most of the women that claimed they were assaulted by Weinstein claim that they did it to further their career in the film industry.

In another article written by the Guardian, the title says it all; 99% of Women working in the film and TV industries have experienced sexism. It is truthfully heartbreaking to hear that these are the conditions that women in film are experiencing.

Davi

So what’s the fix? Is there a fix?

As a society, we need to focus on making gender equality a core principal in all paths of life. Whether its in a creative industry or not. For women in the film industry, there is not clear answer of how to fix this problem. Bringing light to the gender gap and providing those with knowledge may just be one of best ways to get the word out.