Gender Inequality In Movies

A bold statement for recognition of talent, the Oscar Award has become one of the most coveted awards in the film industry. Simply being nominated for an Oscar carries it's own prestige. Every year, actors, film crews and fans alike anticipate nominations and winners for each category. A curious trend continues to arise with the annual Oscar nominees and winners. Not since 2004's Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby, has a film featuring a strong lead female character won their Oscar nomination. In fact, of the eight nominees for Best Picture every year, 3 films – at most – featuring strong female leads are nominated. The use of female stereotypes in films could account for this continued trend. The film industry perpetuates stereotypes of females
Stereotyping females creates a domino effect that leads to maintaining gender inequality. The film industry's long standing portrayals of female stereotypes have socially normalized these ideas. Normalizing females stereotypes pose an issue for women because it implies inferiority in the community. Socially accepted ideas seem to be normal and become strange to contradict. Thus, causing the continuation of gender inequality. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey's book, "Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives" explains why circumstances that cause inequality are effective. "Maintaining systems of inequality requires ongoing objectification and dehumanization of subordinate peoples. Appropriating their identities is a particularly effective method of doing this, for it defines who the subordinated group/ person is or ought to be" (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 2013, p. 106). The passage explains that a method that maintain inequality need to portray the oppressed as either objects and less than human because it effectively labels the oppressed. The film industry's use of stereotypes for storytelling has become a method of inequality that labels females as inferior. As the film industry continues to use female stereotypes the more normal the idea of female inferiority in the social community will become. Ultimately continuing gender
The old saying, "a woman's touch" is true in many instances. Allowing women to have more involvement in the production of films would limit stereotypes used by the male dominated industry. New studies are correlating the involvement of women behind-the-scenes with the more positive portrayals and opportunities for women on the big screen. Reporter, Lindsay Hunter Lopez reported on a University of Southern California School of Journalism study on the film industry. "The study found that when women make or write movies, they feature significantly more female characters. [Professor Stacy L.] Smith says this is the outcome of male writers and directors telling the stories they know. "If the numbers behind the scenes move," Smith says, "we're likely to see numbers on-screen move" (Lopez, 2011). Lopez reports Professor Smith's comments regarding the study was, the more females in production the more actresses and female perspectives will be seen in films. Seeing more actresses and having a female perspective in films will give audiences visual representation that disproves long held female stereotypes. As the female stereotypes wane away the film industry begins to show more gender equality. The University of Southern California's study is similar to a University of San Diego's study