15 Reasons Being A Woman In Hollywood Is Unfair
Despite attempts to change the ways of the American film industry, the ugly truth remains, and the more bothering thing is not everyone even realizes that there's a problem. After over a century, hundreds of thousand films, and billions of viewers, we only see the razzle-dazzle of Hollywood and never how horrible it is for women.
One gender is clearly favoured in Hollywood, just like what happens in the real world. Hollywood is such an unforgiving world for women, starting from the women we see on-screen down to the women who work behind the scenes.
And the thing is it's not just about the industry. Hollywood, is an influential institution, and has an undoubtable stronghold of the world's viewership and, possibly, our perception of society. Studies show that films can influence not just someone's short-term preferences but also the habits and life-changing decisions that mold us into being well, us. Clearly, no other film industry in the world has the capacity that Hollywood holds.
However, with the way Hollywood is portraying and treating women, it seems as though the industry will never be on our side - for progressive equality - because we're forgetting it's a business that has a serious fortune.
In case you still don't know, here are the reasons Hollywood is terrible for women.
15 Gender discrimination is so rampant and "equality" is a myth
To start off reasons why Hollywood is hell for women, is the discrimination - the bias that men, and sadly even women, believe in, saying that women and their stories aren't as valuable in the industry. Ten, twenty years ago, only a handful of female stars expressed their disbelief over the ways Hollywood is handling females. Women rebelling against the system were considered rare and novelty, and more often than not, merely isolated cases.
But in the wake of Jennifer Lawrence's celebrated yet controversial essay release, where she divulged how she made less than her male co-stars, a lot of female stars followed her lead and spoke out of the disparity, and this doesn't just focus on the gender pay but rather on the entire systemic discrimination.
"You know, equality is a myth,” Beyonce once said. “And for some reason, everyone accepts the fact that women don't make as much money as men do. I don't understand that. Why do we have to take a backseat?"
14 It's tough for mothers too, but never the fathers
Since we live in a world where taking care of the kids is mostly a woman's job, it's hard for Hollywood's female workforce to consistently engage in projects due to lack of parental leaves. We know the United States is one of the two countries in the world that doesn't provide parental benefits, but what harm would it be for an industry as big as Hollywood to adopt this child-parent friendly resolution, right? After all, it's not impossible -- the Silicon Valley industry has adopted it even if the rest of United States companies are dodging this idea.
Hollywood has had a grim past for mothers, even from the very beginning. It has reportedly forced female stars to abort their children just like Judy Garland, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, and Ava Gardner.
13 Most women artists complain of getting only gender-specific roles (like generic girlfriend or wife, or sexy bombshell)
The sad part is not only do women get marginalized, they're also kept in a certain mold Hollywood has cultivated for the longest time. Of all the American movies you may have seen, 55 percent of the female characters there are scantily clad.
According to Dr. Smith, women are three times more likely to be portrayed with sexually revealing clothes and even partially naked. To an extent, animations are so unrealistically thin that their waist's circumference nearly matches their arms so that they will fit into the “ideal” female body.
Stereotypical gender roles for women in Hollywood are also far too detectable not to be missed. There's the sexy Latina, the dumb blonde, the dirty old woman. We also have seen characters like the hooker with the golden heart, the awkward virgin, crazy cat lady and more popularly, the psycho ex-girlfriend. Aren't we all too over these female representations? So many actresses complain getting these roles over and over again, and somehow this tells something: is this all women can ever get?
12 Assaults are common and rarely ever revealed
This is a tale as old as Hollywood, yet it's only recently that more female stars stood up and voiced their experiences. In the wake of Harvey Weinstein's massive assault accusation, females in Hollywood are airing out their grievances not just against the controversial film producer, but also against other male celebrities in the industry through the Twitter campaign “#MeToo”.
Over 50 women revealed that they have been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein including the industry's biggest names like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong'o, Alyssa Milano, Cara Delevingne and the likes. Other stars like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence, America Ferrera and Lady Gaga also joined the crusade as they professed the devastating, yet largely unspoken, reality women in Hollywood experience at one point in their lives.
This wasn't the first time a wave of women revolted against sexual exploitations done by male Hollywood icons. A few years ago, Bill Cosby was in hot water for allegedly harassing 60 women.
11 Women directors, artists, and crew are underrepresented
At this point in your life, if you have seen mostly American movies, a study of researcher and activist Dr. Stacy Smith shows that only five percent of the films were helmed by women. This means that ninety-five percent of all the movies have been based on the male gaze, and while these films can still have female influence, it may mean only little to nothing.
Portrayal-wise, females are notably invisible on-screen, and only at least 10 percent of the lead roles in films were women. In 2015, the top grossing films had only 16 percent directors, writers, producer and other executives. We can blame this inclusion crisis to the “celluloid ceiling” of Hollywood, or as we call it in the real world, the “glass ceiling.”
10 Women are shy and stigmatized for asking a bigger pay
For the big (white and male) baddies of Hollywood, asking for a bigger pay is considered distasteful for women who shouldn't be rebellious and just be thankful for their wages. Unlike men, who are said to be aggressive by nature, it's acceptable for them to negotiate until they get what they want.
This stigmatization has always left women in Hollywood less handed compared to men. If females try to negotiate, they are labeled by the industry as “spoiled” and “difficult” for trying to just get what they deserve, just as how Jennifer Lawrence thought whenever she attempted to negotiate. If men do negotiate, no one bats an eye and it's always the end of the story.
Amanda Seyfried also expressed how her “easy going and game to do things” attitude made her seem like she's contented of the lesser pay she received. “I think people think because I'm easygoing and game to do things, I'll just take as little as they offer. But it's not about how much you get, it's about how fair it is,” Seyfried said.
9 Hollywood is an "old boys club", a male-dominated industry
Since its maiden years, Hollywood has always had men behind the screens. The idea that it's a man's world became the norm as time passed, even if there are so many equally talented women out there who are as passionate - or even more - with the craft as men.
This is also why when we think of the role director, we would always perceive it as a man's job. In Smith's separate study, female and male executives in Hollywood were asked why so, and it's believed that men had more leadership, creativity, and capability than women. And unfortunately, it's perceived that leadership is a masculine trait by nature, just like how leadership has always been associated with men in congruence with the findings in psychological arena.
8 Many women are sidelined by male white filmheads
Although portrayal and participation of women in Hollywood hardly changed in 50 years - imagine that - the good news is that women have a significant representation in schools and programs that are focused on filmmaking. However, only 18 percent of them are funneled to actually helm a film, to think these films are just indies and micro-budgeted ones that had less than $5 million allowance. As for the studio films, it's slough off to 12 percent.
The thing about this inclusion crisis is that most filmheads and senior managers are mostly white male. Also, it's due to their belief that female gaze isn't lucrative and women aren't their target market, when in fact, women could raise the revenue by 23 cents per every dollar.
7 There's a gender pay gap
This one's not really that of a secret after a series of female stars, with the lead of Jennifer Lawrence, expressed resentment over their salaries. It's not that their pay slips are still small for them - it's because of the fact that they've done equal work with her male co-stars but received so much less than them.
Lawrence and female co-star Amy Adams received only 7 percent cut on profits of the film “American Hustle” while Bradley Cooper and two others received 9 percent. The gender pay gap in Hollywood is worst than in real life (among average earners), with female stars earning only 40 cents per dollar a male star earns. The ratio in United is 79 cents for every dollar.
If you haven't noticed, most of the world's highest paid actors made more dough compared to their female counterparts. This year, Mark Wahlberg leads the male roster with $68 million while Emma Stone bagged only $26 million. The trend has been going on and on for years and it's left nearly unnoticed.
6 Female film characters are rarely leaders, executives etc.
It's kind of uplifting to see that a part of the audience are starting to criticize the way women are portrayed in most films unlike before. During the golden years of Hollywood, women are always cast to be the submissive type. We're always the domesticated one who takes care of the household while men “work hard” and bring food on the table, and these portrayals have shaped women perception to a debilitating state.
Rarely, we're at the center of every story as the heroine of our own lives. It always has to be the prince-kills-the-dragon-saves-woman kind of plot. It may have evolved into subtler forms and somehow made females with more interesting characters, but most of the films still hardly portray women as world-beaters and torch-bearers.
In fact, in 2016's top 100 grossing films, female protagonists are seen less to have an identifiable job or occupation with only 78 percent, compared to men at 86 percent. Most of the time, it was the male characters who were also given scenes that featured their work setting (61 percent) compared to females (45 percent).
5 Male stars are hugely pampered
Male and female stars in Hollywood do not also get the same treatment in film settings as men are surprisingly more indulged with attention. “21 Jumpstreet” star Brie Larson told Net-a-Porter during an interview that men even get to have custom clothing, while women are expected to just fit in several sizes. ”Men get custom suits or shirts made to fit, but as women, if you don't fit into that sample you bump up against an aspect of your career you can never blossom into,” she said.
Suggestions from male stars were also more likely to get approved compared to women. Like, one instance for “The Office” star Mindy Kaling, she said her decisions seemed to be up for debate unlike with her male co-stars. “If I decided there'd be a certain way in the script, it would still seem open-ended, whereas, if I was a man I would not have seen that,” she said.
4 Male directors are extremely douchey
As much as directors are commonly associated with men, they are also mostly correlated to a notorious trait - jerkiness. Do directors really have to be an ass to make one film a success? Well, somehow, it's true and, to some extent, and some of them seem love this kind of alpha male yet douchey kind representation. Machismo, remember? Although for the success part, it doesn't always seem like it.
A film's success is often thanked mostly due to a director's lead. Even stars owe to them a lot, as evident in their award-accepting speeches. But not all directors who oversee are easy to thank, given their extremely difficult attitude that's bordering exploitative, especially for women.
And the catch is, these stars have to be tough because it's all just part of their job. Otherwise, if they become a bit sensitive, then they're being too emotional and gives an impression of unprofessionalism.
3 Strong-minded female stars and film characters are always questioned
The conversation is largely different in Hollywood as well. If you haven't noticed in interviews, women are always questioned of how they handle portraying strong characters, but this isn't even a discussion when men are being interrogated. Women in Hollywood are always seen with the need to find resilience and willfulness somewhere else as if these traits couldn't be innate to them from the very beginning.
So many female stars like Amy Poehler have also been questioned of their capabilities to juggle family and careers. "I have these meetings with really powerful men and they ask me all the time, 'Where are your kids? Are your kids here?' It's such a weird question,” she told Fast Company in 2015. "Never in a million years do I ask guys where their kids are. It would be comparable to me going to a guy, 'Do you feel like you see your kids enough?'"
2 Hollywood is largely selective -- stories about women of color and others are still untold
If you think you're seeing enough realistic women representation in Hollywood films and hearing enough stories from women of color, then you'd be wrong. As much as Hollywood is selective of who makes films, the stories, especially for women are ranging for scarce to nearly nothing.
Last year, 48 films in Hollywood's top 100 films didn't have a single speaking Black female character. Seventy films lacked a speaking Asian female character. Eighty-four of the films didn't feature a woman character with a disability and 93 films didn't have a speaking lesbian, bisexual or trans-female character. It tells something how Hollywood has been sidelining women of all kinds - those who have different kinds of story. Just imagine how much the world would be better if all of these women's stories are told?
1 Ageism puts older female stars nearly useless
Aside from sexism, Hollywood is faced with an ageist epidemic that still victimizes more women than men. Have you ever doubted the crazy pairings you've ever come across in Hollywood films? For instance, when 30-year-old Catherine Zeta-Jones became an on-screen thing with 69-year-old Sean Connery in the movie “Entrapment” or when 66-year-old Jack Nicholson was paired with 31-year-old Amanda Peet for “Something's Gotta Give.”
Apparently, women are disadvantaged when it comes to roles compared to men and age is a huge factor for it. “Orange Is The New Black” star Jamie Denbo once revealed this discrimination on Twitter and said: “I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57-year-old.”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, too, has been a victim of this for looking old enough for a 57-year-old love interest. She was 37 at the time. For women, it will be harder to land a role, unlike men who seemed to have no limits, not even if their wrinkle-full of face that shouts their true age.