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Nicole Turner
Charles Klinetobe
American History Since 1865
2 June 2019
Gender Representation in Film: Empowering Women One Role at a Time
These past couple of years have made tremendous strides towards gender equality in media, and particularly film, on camera and behind the scenes. Between the Me Too movements and the fights for equal pay for men and women, the film industry has very publicly been shamed into making changes. But on screen there is a fight for equality as well. In 2014, a whopping
71.9% of speaking roles in film was attributed to men, leaving only 28.1% for female characters.
However, in 2017 the percentage of female speaking roles jumped to 31.8% (MDSC Initiative
“Distribution”). While the divide between men and women in film has lessened, it has not disappeared. Not to mention the female representation in film that could be even more harmful to gender equality. While quantity can contribute to representation, it is also important to look at the quality. Gender representation in media, particularly film, is unequal in it’s female concentrated blockbusters, female directors, and pay between female and male actors.
Film is a giant industry. In 2016, $38.6 billion was made globally from movies. $27.2 billion of those dollars came exclusively from the box office*. The box office is a term that refers to the place where a ticket is sold. This means that a majority of money made from films is made from ticket sales to theaters. Following a basic business logic, that you should put your money towards the most profitable endeavors, this means that studios focus on producing movies that draw in moviegoers. The easiest way for a studio and production company to draw in Turner 2 viewers is a simple one, action. The adventure/action genre has made 104.4 billion dollars since
1995 as well as being two of the top three highest grossing films of all time (the-numbers.com).
However, 24.5% of the speaking roles in action/adventure films are female, as of 2017 (MDSC
Initiative "Share”). We are, however, are seeing a change with the popular releases of films like Wonder Woman Captain Marvel and . These two movies are the first female concentrated Wonder Woman superhero blockbusters for each of their prospective companies. is the third Captain highest grossing film out of all 33 DC films and made 821 million dollars worldwide. Marvel has made 1 billion dollars, as of April 3 and is currently ranked #7 in opening weekends for all Marvel films.
While these movies are not the only films who are telling female stories, due to the current high ranking superhero genre, they can certainly be considered some of the most popular.
If female-heavy blockbusters are clearly doing well for studios will we see in increase in these types of films? Hopefully! But, does a equal quantity of representation mean good, empowering, quality representation? Not always. A perfect example of female representation that could potentially be harmful to gender equality in films is a majority of the Disney princesses. With the
Beauty and the Beast release of the live action this became more relevant. One major issue that many have with both films and story in general is the fact that Belle was once a prisoner to the
Beast. While this is an important critique, Louise Lavery suggest that the real problem lies in the overall message:
“if a woman (or a man) suffers through their partner’s flaws for long enough, everything
will turn into the fairytale ending that Belle chases: if we stay a little longer, if we tolerate
just a little more abuse, if we look past the laziness, the boorishness, the casual racism, Turner 3
the intolerance, the beastliness (or whatever the case may be), our partner will see our
long-suffering kindness and they’ll shed their ‘beast’ skin to reveal the royalty beneath”
(Lavery 24).
This is a common theme in many “romance” movies, but what does it say to people, not just little girls, who watch these films? Essentially, they’re saying that it’s up to the female to change the male. When consuming a film, or other piece of art, we often do not think about long term effects of the artworks message. This is especially important because women make-up a majority of many movie viewers. In 2016, three of the five top grossing films attracted majority female audiences. 12-17 year-olds, also go to the movies 6.1 times a year, which is only beaten by the 18-25 year-old demographic who go 6.5 times a year (Motion Picture Association of
America). This suggests that young girls would attribute to a large percentage of moviegoers.
Another common theme throughout film is the over sexualized female. This theme is especially relevant in the genre of action/adventure. A study conducted on female undergraduates in the midwestern parts of the United States, suggests that a short term effect of watching over-sexualized female characters lead to a decrease in self-confidence (Pennell and
Behm 211). “U.S.-based research reveals that there is a significant relationship between media exposure to gender stereotypes and individuals’ stereotypical gender role beliefs and expectations” (Pennell and Behm 213). This suggests the things that directors and writers put on the screen can influence a viewers on what gender is. If film has this power, we have to wonder if the films being produced by modern media are helping or hurting us.
An important part of representation that helps us as a society often happens behind the camera, in leadership. The roles of writers and directors in film are often integral to creating real Turner 4 human stories. However, out of all top-grossing films from 2007-2018 only 4.3% of them are directed by women. Only one woman has ever won an Academy Award for best director, and only five of them have been nominated. This is out of 91 years of the Academy Awards. The percentage for women writers in 2015 was 13.2%. A great example for good representation
Wonder Women behind the camera affect the screen is and it’s director Patty Jenkins. The Wonder Woman aforementioned was one of 2017’s biggest films. The film was to be the first of the modern wave of superhero films that centered around a female superhero. Not only that, but
Wonder Woman is an Amazon with super strength. She is the kind of superhero that we as a society had only really ever seen as a man, but with a feminine energy that strengthened her character as opposed to weakening it. This is primarily attributed to the hand that Patty Jenkins had in writing and directing the film. As a fan, Jenkins wrote and directed a character true to the comics and as a women, she created a character true to women everywhere. One scene that personifies this is the scene that shows Diana walking through no man’s land. The scene begins with Diana’s love interest, Steve Trevor telling her that no one can survive no man’s land. Diana tells that this is what she is going to do. As she steps into no man’s land she is treated by a parade of bullets that she manages to deflect (Jenkins, Patty). Producers and studio executives had originally wanted to cut the scene as it “didn’t further the plot”, but Jenkins fought for the scene to stay because she recognized the importance for women to see a strong woman beat the odds on screen (Wonder Woman).
Furthering the problem of women in creative/ leadership roles, there is also a major divide between men and on and off screen in the pay they recieve. Like representation on screen, the way we treat minority groups in Hollywood is often reflective of the world as a whole. In the Turner 5
12 months prior to June 2015, Jennifer Lawrence made a total of $52 million. During this time
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One her movie opened at the box office with an impressive $755.4 million. While her earnings seem to be massive, they don’t even compare to
Robert Downey Jr.’s $80 million he earned at the same time. Not only did the highest paid male actor of 2015 get paid $28 million more than the highest paid female actor, but the Forbes
Celebrity 100, a list of the top-paid actors, only feature two actresses that year, the other being
Scarlett Johansson, who made $35 million. Lawrence and many other actresses have spoken out against the pay gap, including Meryl Streep, who despite her three Oscar wins, still manages to
Lenny, be paid less than her male co-stars. In the online newsletter Jennifer Lawrence said this about the Hollywood pay gap:
“I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fuck that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating
what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard. Jeremy Renner,
Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful
deals for themselves. If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and
tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair
share. Again, this might have NOTHING to do with my vagina, but I wasn’t completely
wrong when another leaked Sony email revealed a producer referring to a fellow lead
actress in a negotiation as a “spoiled brat.” For some reason, I just can’t picture someone
saying that about a man.”
One very prominent argument that appears when speaking about gender representation in film is that there are other minorities that are being underrepresented in film. In 2017, only Turner 6
19.8% of films featured a minority actor. Despite this being an almost 6% increase from 2016, this means that 80.2% of those roles were held by white actors (University of California). One long standing reasoning for this particular gap has been that only 13% of movie theater audience members, in 2017, were black (MPAA). Movie executives and production companies have argued this means stories featuring black characters must reach beyond race and had seemingly deemed this idea impossible.
This racial representation gap has been apparent since the creation and later commercialization of video. In 1975, African American leaders went to ABC-TV executive Lou
Rudolph to voice dissatisfaction because blacks were not seen on television in any type of prominent way. This led into the production of the ABC mini-series “Roots” in 1997. Over the years after “Roots”, black representation in film evolved into what we know today. While the representation has grown it is far from equal. From 2007 to 2017, out of 1,100 of the most popular films there have been 48,757 speaking roles. Out of these 49,000 roles over 70% were white and only 12% were black. This study also defines “speaking roles” as a character who has just one line. The lack of representation on screen is clearly mirrored by by the lack of representation behind the camera. Between 2007 to 2018, out of the 1,200 most popular films there are a total 1,300 credited directors. Out of these directors a total of 80 directors are black.
Not only that, but, a total of five of these were black female directors.
Another clear underrepresented minority in film are those in the LGBTQ community. In
2017 alone, only 31% of characters in the highest grossing films in the U.S. were apart of the
LGBTQ community. Broken down by orientation that is 16% gay, 9% lesbian, 6% bi, and a whopping 0% trans. In fact, since 2014, only one transgender character has been shown in the Turner 7 highest grossing films (“Number of LGBT”). One of the most recent examples of LGBTQ
Bohemian Rhapsody Bohemian representation was in the film , which grossed $213.5 million. Rhapsody is also the highest grossing LGBTQ film made (Box Office Mojo). The question that is then posed is: Why is female representation more important than other minority group representation? My answer is simply it’s not. Representation from all groups is important. Research suggests that media plays a very important part in our understanding of gender roles. It also states that film in particular plays a part in instituting those same gender roles (Pennell and Behm 212). If film plays such an important part in how we as a society understand and look at gender, why would it play any less of a part in how we look at race and sexual orientation. The problem is not merely that there is a lack of female representation in film, but instead that there is a lack of diverse representation in film.
When it comes to representation, it is not just about fairness. A lot of times people argue for fairness by saying that lack of representation for any minority, whether it’s women, African
Americans, or the LGBTQ community, is simply unfair. The truth is, is that it’s more than that.
As humans, we are creatures who learn by interacting with others. When we watch a movies with heavy stereotypes, those stereotypes inevitably create erroneous perceptions about individuals.
Nicole Martins from Indiana University stated in an article for the Huffington Post:
“There’s this body of research and a term known as ‘symbolic annihilation,’ which is the
idea that if you don’t see people like you in the media you consume,” she explained, “you
must somehow be unimportant.” (In a 1976 paper titled “Living with Television,”
researchers George Gerbner and Larry Gross coined the term with a chilling line: Turner 8
“Representation in the fictional world signifies social existence; absence means symbolic
annihilation.”) (Boboltz).
These stereotypes we learn from film become even more problematic when they are used to favor certain groups, knowingly or unknowingly. Film and other types of media quickly and quite easily reach all around the globe making them vital to our society. Imagine if all media spread love and hope instead of hate and dividedness.
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Works Cited
Forbes Berg, Madeline. “Everything You Need To Know About The Hollywood Pay Gap.” , Forbes Magazine, 26 Feb. 2016
Boboltz, Sara, et al. “Why On-Screen Representation Actually Matters.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 24 Feb. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/why-on-screen-representation-matters_n_58aeae96e4b01406012f e49d.
Box Office Mojo. "Box Office Revenue of The Highest Grossing Lgbtq Movies of All Time Statista - The Statistics in North America as of March 2019 (in Million U.S. Dollars)." Portal ,
“Jennifer Lawrence: Why Do These Dudes Make More Than Me?” Lenny Letter | Issue No. 3, us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=a5b04a26aae05a24bc4efb63e&id=64e6f35176&e=1ba99d 671e#wage.
Laham, Martha T.S., and Martha T.S. Laham. “The Film Industry's Problem Of Gender HuffPost Inequality Is Worse Than You Think.” , HuffPost, 18 Aug. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/the-celluloid-ceiling-tru_b_11389544.
Screen Lavery, Louise. “DARK MAGIC: The Mixed Messages of Beauty and the Beast.” Education EBSCOhost. , no. 91, Oct. 2018, pp. 22–29.
MDSC Initiative. "Distribution of Speaking Characters in Movies in The United States from Statista - The Statistics Portal 2007 to 2017, by Gender." , Statista, Accessed 9 Apr 2019.
MDSC Initiative. "Gender Distribution of Directors in Tv and Film in The United States from Statista - The Statistics Portal 2007 to 2018, by Media Platform." , Statista.
MDSC Initiative. "Number of Lgbt Characters Appearing in Highest-grossing Movies in The Statista - The Statistics Portal United States from 2014 to 2017." , Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/888267/number-of-lgbt-characters-top-movies/, Accessed 30 Apr 2019
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MDSC Initiative. "Share of Female Speaking Characters in Movies in The United States in Statista - The Statistics Portal 2017, by Genre." , Statista, Accessed 9 Apr 2019.
Theatrical Market Statistics Motion Picture Association of America. . www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2016_Fi nal-1.pdf.
MPAA. "Distribution of The Movie Theater Audience in North America from 2015 to 2017, Statista - The Statistics Portal by Ethnicity." , Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/251606/us-movie-theater-audience-by-ethnicity/, Accessed 30 Apr 2019
Nesbitt, Jennifer P. “DEACTIVATING FEMINISM: Sigourney Weaver, James Cameron, and Film & History (03603695) EBSCOhost. Avatar.” , vol. 46, no. 1, Summer 2016, pp. 21–32.
Pennell, Hillary, and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz. “The Empowering (Super) Heroine? The Sex Roles Effects of Sexualized Female Characters in Superhero Films on Women.” , vol. EBSCOhost. 72, no. 5–6, Mar. 2015, pp. 211–220.
Root, The. “Representation Is More than Just Having a Black or Brown Character Saying a Single Word on Camera and People Such as @Ava & @ReginaKing Are Using Their Twitter Power to Bring Forth True Representation. #Oscars Pic.twitter.com/dKlc176nYf.” , Twitter, 25 Feb. 2019, twitter.com/theroot/status/1099850215664672768.
the-numbers.com. "Most Popular Movie Genres in North America from 1995 to 2019, by Statista - The Statistics Portal Total Box Office Revenue (in Billion U.S. Dollars) ." , Statista.
The Perception and Portrayal of Blacks from "Roots" to the Present, in Television , web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/perception.htm.
University of California (Social Sciences). "Distribution of Lead Actors in Movies in The Statista - The Statistics Portal United States from 2011 to 2017, by Ethnicity." , Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/, Accessed 30 Apr 2019
“Wonder Woman: No Man's Land Scene Nearly Didn't Happen.” /Film, 6 June 2017, www.slashfilm.com/wonder-woman-director-patty-jenkins-explains-how-that-no-mans-lan d-scene-nearly-didnt-happen/.
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