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Amy Lynch
Mrs. Thompson
AP Lang, Block 1, Skinny A
March 2nd, 2015
Term Paper: Draft One
Gender Inequality in the Film Industry
Since the Second World War, the number of women in the work force has been increasing
dramatically. Although many people are naive about it, there is a large income gender gap
present between the sexes, which may be a result of the expectation of women to bear children
(Hanmer 63). Actors, directors, screenwriters, pre-production, and postproduction crews are just
a few of the jobs that contribute to making films. Unfortunately, there is a large gender gap
present as men tend to receive more benefits than their female coworkers. Currently, there are
not nearly as many female employees as there are men both on screen and off the screen but
there are efforts being made to end this. In the film industry, females receive less screen time, are
often depicted in scandalous attire, and receive less pay than their male counterparts.
In the case Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films carried out by the Annenberg
School for Communication & Journalism, the top five hundred films from 2007 to 2012 are
examined to see if there is a disparity between the genders. The study discovered that women on
average only represent 30.84% of the casts and that only 6% of the top grossing movies had a
balanced cast. Not only do females receive fewer jobs on average than men, but they also receive
fewer speaking lines, many of which depict them to sound weak or reliant on men. Out of the
4,475 speaking characters observed, only 28.4% were female actors which comes out to around

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2.5 males for every female (Smith). As a result, females are often not the focus in films since
male actors are more likely to be seen and heard on screen more.
Not only do female actresses receive fewer lines, but they are also more likely than their
male cast members to be sexualized or seen in scandalous attire. Female actors have a 31%
chance of being showed partially naked versus only have a 7% chance for men. Recently, there
has been a dramatic increase in the amount of scandalous behavior among female teenage actors
(Smith). A plausible reason for the involvement of scandalous women in movies could be that it
may bring in more revenue and create a higher profit film. The older an actress becomes, the less
chance there is that she will be presented provocatively. Even though tickets are bought equally
by each gender, the production of the films never have an equal amount of each gender
participating. Since men are the majority on and off screen in the film industry, they often have
the say of what they want in their movie, which is often sexualization.
Furthermore, the salary of women on screens is also significantly less than their fellow
male cast members. Out of the top 16 actors paychecks, not even one female is in the rankings.
Angelina Jolie, the highest paid female actress, receives the same salary as the two lowest ranked
men from that category. In addition, the cumulative of the top ten male actors is equivalent to
465 million while the top ten paid females paychecks only equates to 181 million ("Gender
Inequality in Film - An Infographic). These drastic salary differences make it lucid that the
movie industry views men as more important contributors to the movie.
The gender gap is also present in behind the scenes in jobs such as directors, editors, and
writers. These female workers also receive fewer job opportunities and receive less recognition
for their work than men do. The imbalance is noted in the Annenberg School for Communication
& Journalism study when it states, Women account for 4.1% of directors, 12.2% of the writers,

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and 20% of the producers. This calculates to a 2012 ratio of 5 males to every 1 female behind the
camera (Smith). When a female is working behind the scenes, there is a greater chance for more
women to be involved in the film. For instance, most female directors have risen to power by
directing (and often writing) films that appeal to women, whether or not that's their natural
inclination (Abramowitz).
Men dominate a majority of the jobs in the industry, which leads to a higher amount of
male recognition during award shows. Females behind the scenes workers receive far less credit
and fewer awards than men do. During the 2013 Academy Awards, no female directors, music
producers, editors, videographers, or writers were nominated for an award. Overall, the men
control the award show since 140 nominees are male while only 35 are female. This gender
imbalance is nothing new though. In fact, it has been occurring for decades. For instance, In 85
years, only 7 women producers have won the Best Picture awards while only 8 women have won
the Best Original screenplay in 73 years.(Gender Inequality in Film - An Infographic). The
lack of female nominees and winners may be biased since around 77% of voters are male.
Although the gender imbalance in film has been occurring for decades, there has been
efforts to alleviate the problem. Recently, a Swedish movie rating company invented the
venerated Bechdel Test to implicate that the amount of sexism and gender stereotypes in
movies needs to be reduced. The Bechdel rating system scores movies based on the females
characters characteristics such as whether she relies on men of not. Their belief is that gender
stereotypes are fueled from movies that lack a female superhero or female professor or person
who makes it through all exciting challenges and masters them (Swedish Cinemas Take Aim at
Gender Bias with Bechdel RatingAnother exemplary attempt to end the gender imbalance is
currently being made by the Chicana group. In their films, they make sure to portray their

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feminine point of view in order to emphasize the importance of women (Cortina 3). More people
in the movie industry should adopt this tenacity since emphasizing the importance of women in
movies could really help make a positive impact on how the world views women.
In conclusion, women in the film industry do not receive the same benefits as their male
coworkers whether they are on or off screen. Female actresses are more likely to be sexualized
and have fewer speaking lines. In addition, many female characters are often depicted as weak,
reliant on men, or bratty. Women behind the scenes also face this patronizing imbalance since
they receive a lower salary and less recognition for their work. Although there is a gender
imbalance present, there are many auspicious attempts to end the inequality. By encouraging the
film industry to hire more females and include more independent female characters in their
movies, the gender gap could be fixed forever.