Women in Hollywood

‘Research funded by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, found that out of 112 films produced in 2007 only 3 were directed by women.’(Feltey and Sutherland, 2017)

In a time where women and minority groups are taking a stand and fighting for equal rights and opportunities the lack of diversity in Hollywood has never been more apparent; ‘a constant in Hollywood films is the absence or marginality of women of color, described by bell hooks as ‘cinematic racism … the violent erasure of black womanhood’ When Black women are present in film, their roles bear little resemblance to the real lives of Black women.’(Feltey and Sutherland, 2017). Up until recently female roles in the majority of films and television shows were never at the forefront of the story and mostly portrayed stereotypical traits such as being unintelligent, reliant upon the male lead, unambitious or man-obsessed; ‘women’s intellect is rarely the center point of television or film narratives, and when it is, those women are often represented as socially awkward— such as Dr. Temperance Brennan ( Bones ), the women of The Big Bang Theory , and Jess on New Girl —or doomed to perpetual failure in their intimate relationships, such as Olivia Pope ( Scandal ), Sydney Bristow ( Alias ), and Kalinda Sharma ( The Good Wife )’ (Bernstein and D’Amore, 2014). 

However this year has seen a turning point with films such as LadyBird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and I, Tonya all having strong female leads with strong and important storylines; ‘since the Second Wave feminist movement, Hollywood has slowly begun to give prominent and leading roles to women’, (Bernstein and D’Amore, 2014). Yet although this may be true, there is still a lack of recognition of women and minorities, at the leading award shows for Hollywood, especially in the 2018 Oscars, which prompted the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite to be spread across social media after the nominations were revealed. Moreover although female-centred movies may have been rise, females working behind the scenes in Hollywood, and receiving recognition for it, is still extremely low in comparison to their male counterparts. This year at the Oscars the number of female nominees only grew to 23% from 20% in non-acting categories meaning that a massive 77% of nominees were male. 

Activists within the Hollywood community such as Reece Witherspoon and Shonda Rhimes have made a point to ensure women have equal opportunities both in front and behind the screen with Reece Witherspoon setting up her own production company; Hello Sunshine, which focusses on ‘projects around creating strong and complex female characters’ (refinery29/Sarah Midkiff). This is because Reece ‘was tired of hearing that the industry had reached its quota for female-driven projects’. With both of these women creating extremely popular television shows and films proves that there is a demand for this genre and that women deserve the right to be in the forefront of these franchises as much as men; ‘we  need  films which  provide  a  point of view  and which  translate some of the insights  of  recent  literature  on  women’s  roles  and  status  into  visual  perspective’ (Lamphere, 1977). 

Bibliography:

Bernstein, R, & D'Amore, L. (2014). Smart chicks on screen : Representing women's intellect in film and television. Rowman. New York and London

Feltey, K.M. & Sutherland, J.-A., (2017). Here’s looking at her: an intersectional analysis of women, power and feminism in film. Journal of Gender Studies, 26(6), pp.618–631

Lamphere, L. (1977). Women in Film: An Introduction. American Anthropologist, 79(1), 192-193.

Refinery 29/Sarah MidKiff. 2018. Reese Witherspoon Has More Projects In Production Than We Could Have Ever Fathomed. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.refinery29.uk/2018/01/189265/reese-witherspoon-hello-sunshine-projects-kristen-wiig-olivia-spencer-zendaya. [Accessed 11 March 2018].