The Case of Rampant Sexism in Hollywood

There's no denying to the fact that we all have grown in a society that's sexist. We all have been victims of sexism, whether it is difference in terms of toys as kids or career options as adults. We all have heard things like 'It's okay for guys to work late, but girls should be home early.' Even though this includes a sense of safety concern, what's sad is that it is more about sexism than safety.
What's even worse is that, while we believe that in modern and rich areas of society, the existence of sexism would be near to null, it is totally the opposite. Even in a big industry like Hollywood, it's shocking to see the extent at which sexism exists.
In Hollywood, sexism refers to not just women actors being paid less for the same job as males, as we might believe. They are even told to have unrealistic body goals in order to get a role. If you pay a close attention to the composition of females in the industry as compared to males, you'll find a shocking percentage.
According to Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film :
- In 100 top grossing films of 2017, females comprised 24% of protagonists.
- In top 100 grossing films of 2017, women represented: 8% of directors, 10% of writers, 2% of cinematographers, 24% of producers, 14% of editors.
- In the top 250 grossing films of 2017, women comprised 3% of composers.
It is quite evident from this data that males continue to dominate the industry in all aspects, which is a depressing thing to say specially in the 21st century.
Here are few instances where people raised their voice on sexism in Hollywood:

Mira Sorvino is an Academy Award Winner. In an interview with Larry king, she raised the issue of women being payed less than men. While she appreciated the TV shows to be gender equal in terms of roles and pay grade, she said it is not the case with films. She talked about the scripts written in such a way that you'll find more roles for male actors, whether it's main or supporting, as compared to just one female role.

Jessica Chastain in an interview talks about only 7% of filmmakers being females. She mentions that it isn't due to lack of talent but rather the old fashioned mindset. She continues by saying that there is more to just talking about it and there are actions being taken for the same. She ended by giving her own example of working with a female filmmaker every year to bring an end to this old fashioned mentality.

Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director known for his films like Inception and Interstellar. When in an interview he was asked that does he believe that there exists sexism in Hollywood, he replied that there are all levels of criticism on this topic and he cannot say if it is worse than other areas of life or not. But scrutiny on this issue isn't a bad thing, as stated by him.

Emma Watson has been in news for quite a few times for raising the issue of sexism in Hollywood. She has spoken a lot in interviews about the lack of female directors, as well as producers. She also raised the point that she herself felt being treated differently than her male co-stars. In all, she is one of the most vocal actress on the issue of sexism in Hollywood.

Looking at the positive side, there is some progress that has been going on towards ending sexism:
- In 2015, the Cannes festival had the opening night film by a female director, Emmanuelle Bercot.
- Movies like Wonder Woman and Ocean's 8 are women centric.
- In the year 2017, there was a 2% increase in females comprising of all speaking characters.
- The percentages of female characters of color increased in 2017.
Despite it seeming a long and slow way to progress, it needs to be kept in mind that there is a gradual progress taken in this area which makes us believe that sexism will come to an end for once and for all.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the website.
Priyanshi is currently pursuing Bachelor of Arts in Economic Honours from Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University. Lazy days with a perfect movie/series is her idea of paradise.