Topic > Sexism in Hollywood and its effects on society

IndexIntroductionConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionSociety's view of women creates a phenomenon in which women are perceived as weaker and oppressed. Sexism creates the gap between women's rights and men's rights and stereotypes of women and stereotypes of men. The rights that women have had to fight for, and those that they have yet to achieve, are very evident in Hollywood and the world of entertainment. As Rebel Wilson said, a shocking reality that women have learned to accept is that “they are there to support the male actor” (Leal). Fortunately, women in Hollywood and elsewhere have become more frustrated by this fact and have worked harder than ever to overcome the barriers imposed by society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In this article I will examine the wage gap in Hollywood, the proportion of women in films and award shows, the treatment of women in casting and interview questions, and how all of these negatively affect women in the industry and their confidence. The Hollywood sexism created by our society not only affects the obvious victims, the actresses and directors, but also affects those outside of Hollywood. Women, who, as a gender, already struggle with self-confidence, are even more dejected when they see how actresses are treated and how women are portrayed. Another group of people indirectly affected by sexist culture are children, of both sexes. Girls are taught that they are worth more when they are with a man, and boys grow up learning that they can treat women as they see in movies and the media, in a way that is completely inappropriate. The wage gap exists. in almost every occupation, but it is especially large in Hollywood and can be seen by examining paid roles, released emails, salary increases, and lists of the highest paid actors. Gal Gadot, who recently debuted as Wonder Woman, earned $400,000 for her role, even though the film grossed $300 million in its opening weekend. On the other hand, Robert Downey Jr. was paid $50 million for Captain America: Civil War even though he wasn't the lead actor (Carmbody). This salary discrepancy, however, could be influenced by a confounding variable, namely that Robert Downey Jr. is much better known than Gal Gadot, but regardless of the reasoning and this specific case, there are many other examples of actresses paid much less than due. actors.Sony Pictures accidentally released an email discussing actors' pay, and Jennifer Lawrence discovered that her American Hustle costar made significantly more money than her for that film. She said another email revealed that a producer called a woman a "spoiled brat" for trying to negotiate her salary, and RedState, a news source, called Lawrence's comments about the pay gap "a demonstration brat from a rich young man” (Fight Against The Wage Gap in Hollywood Can Inspire Others to Fight for Rights). Regardless of whether or not Sony intended to let the public know about the gap between Jennifer Lawrence's and Bradley Cooper's pay for the film, the revelation of the difference received massive backlash. Evidence of the pay gap between men and women includes that being nominated for an Oscar increased a man's pay by an average of $3.9 million, while women in the lead expect a raise of around $500,000 (Kalb) . Due to the relatively low value of nominations andOscar wins for women, many women who have won Oscars still earn less than men who have not received any. Hilary Swank, who has two Oscars, was offered $500,000 for the "hot" female lead in a film and the man who was offered the male lead, who won no major awards, was offered $10 million dollars. The role that Hilary Swank auditioned for ended up going to an actress who accepted the role for $50,000 (Esquibel). Some would say that the pay gap could be a coincidence and that there are other variables that determine actors' pay, as former Columbia Pictures marketing chief Peter Sealey confirmed. Sealey says salaries are based on many variables, the biggest of which is the actor's popularity with the target audience. The pay gap between men and women in acting careers is very visible in Forbes' highest-paid actors lists and other similar rankings. Men must have $9.5 million to make the Forbes list, but women must have $5 million to make the list (Esquibel). Jennifer Lawrence topped the list of highest-paid actresses and had $46 million, but Dwayne Johnson topped the list of actors with $64.5 million. The lists also provide evidence of the proportion of high-paid actors to high-paid actresses. The first woman on the highest-paid list is at number six, meaning that even the richest actress is not as rich as the fifth richest actor (Fuente). However, this gap may not be as clear as it seems because it may be due to the fact that most big-budget films contain mostly male roles and fewer female roles, which leaves women with fewer opportunities to make money and star in films. breaking box office records (Fuente). In fact, women only make up 33% of speaking characters in movies and TV shows (Esquibel). Other interesting statistics are the percentage of dialogue in films with female or male dialogue. Twenty-two of the thirty famous Disney films have significantly more male dialogue, although almost all were films in which the main role was a woman, such as Mulan (Tremeer). This discrepancy became so apparent that Alison Bechdel invented the Bechdel test for movies. This test outlines three requirements that films must meet: the films must feature at least two women, the women must talk to each other, and the conversation must be about something other than a man. Of the nearly 8,000 films currently in the database on the Bechdel Test website, only 57% meet all three requirements, and the amount of films passing each year is decreasing (“Bechdel Test Film List”). The roles offered to women usually have a pattern of stereotypes, such as objects of desire or bad girls, while men can choose from a wide range of roles, including bad guys, good guys, lovers and more. Lena Dunham, creator of Girls, commented on this trend when she pointed out that the show's two main female protagonists, Allison Williams and Zosia Mamet, are constantly offered roles that fit their stereotypes of sweethearts and fickle girls, respectively. In contrast, Adam Driver, the male lead, has been offered a variety of roles, from bad guys and bad guys to good guys and sweethearts (Lena Dunham Calls Out Hollywood Sexism in SXSW Keynote Speech). This specific example, where two talented women are repeatedly offered the same stereotypical role for every film, while a talented man is offered almost every type of character, is proof that finding an acting opportunity is much more difficult for a woman than for a man acause of preconceptions. ideas of actresses who will play each role. Women of color face this problem even more harshly and obviously than white women. While speaking about sexism in Hollywood, Reese Witherspoon noted that she once asked Mindy Kaling if it gets exhausting having to create her own roles and Mindy replied that she had never played a role that she didn't create for herself (Reese Witherspoon Slams Hollywood Sexism) Awards statistics are an example of hard evidence to support the claim that sexism is prevalent in Hollywood. For example, Cheryl Strayed claims that her film Wild failed to receive Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, even though the film was one of the most acclaimed films of 2014. She suggests that the reason for this missed nomination was due to the fact that the film featured a strong female protagonist and that the Academy prefers films about strong men because "men are the universal figure that both genders can identify with". His bold statement is supported by the films nominated for Best Picture that year, American Sniper, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, Birdman, Selma, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood, all of which contain stories of men, a Navy SEAL, two geniuses, a drummer, an actor, a political figure, a doorman and a boy who turns into a man. If the fact that every single Oscar-nominated film in 2014 featured a male lead isn't enough proof that the Oscars love men, Slate columnist Dan Kois found that only 21 of the 125 films nominated for best films in the last 20 years have portrayed women's stories (Meares). Women in Hollywood have received much harsher and inappropriate treatment than men. Notably, women in the auditions had much more difficulty than men simply because of certain tasks they are expected to perform. For example, when Rose McGowan was invited to audition for a certain role, she received a casting note suggesting that actresses during the audition should show cleavage and wear tight-fitting clothing. Of course she was offended and commented publicly on this note and when she criticized it, her agent fired her (Monzon). Casting directors and producers seem to put a lot more effort into finding the perfect male lead than the perfect female lead. Kate Bosworth said in a PEOPLE Now article that every single audition she went to ended with the casting director telling her that they can't make any decisions on the female leads yet because they have to choose the man first because he's more important (Price). and red carpets are used as a way to create even more of a divide between actresses and actors. For example, when men are interviewed on red carpets, they are usually asked how to prepare for their roles and what it was like to shoot such a difficult film, but women's interviews are usually filled with questions about their outfits and other questions superficial. In his 2016 Oscars Red Carpet interview, Leonardo DiCaprio discussed making the film, how much of himself he brings to his films, and how he became the actor he is (Roberts). In contrast, in Emma Stone's BAFTA Red Carpet interview in 2017, she was congratulated on her appearance before she made it into the film, was asked how she feels about constantly playing Ryan Gosling's love interest, and was was asked if he had already prepared his speech (Ball). Specifically, when the interviewer opened the interview by congratulating Emma Stone on her dress before her nominations, the sexism found in the Red Carpet interviews isclearly represented in the contrast between these two interviews. Aside from the aesthetic aspect of the interview, Emma Stone faced sexist questions because she wasn't asked to talk about the making of the film or her thoughts on the film, but rather was asked how she feels about being the lover by Ryan Gosling in three films. Sexism is not simply an aspect of Hollywood that people recognize, it is an aspect of Hollywood that negatively affects and offends women. Jennifer Lawrence, Hilary Swank, Lena Dunham, Cheryl Strayed, Mindy Kaling, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Watson, Meryl Streep and Zendaya are just some of the actresses who have spoken out against sexism in Hollywood. Although perhaps the least dehumanizing aspect of Hollywood sexism, the wage gap is said to be very frustrating because, as Gwyneth Paltrow said, "salary is a way of quantifying how much you're worth" and that the wage gap makes her "feel" shitty” (Setoodeh). The stereotypical female character, the girlfriend or sexual desire, is a trend that negatively influences the vision women have of themselves and their femininity. Because men's roles vary from villains to lovers to heroes, and women's roles remain more or less the same, women are taught that they have more value when they are objectified. Actresses and actors differ, but the same goes for male and female directors because the percentage of successful and well-known female directors is not comparable to that of male directors. The lack of successful female directors and award nominations and wins suggests that men are better at directing and producing, which also negatively impacts women's confidence. However, when their hard work turns into nominations and even wins, their awards are undermined by superficial questions in interviews. When their successes are put aside to talk about their clothes and personal lives, their confidence in their abilities diminishes due to the fact that the interview questions still make it seem like they are worth their appearance alone. These are just a few of the many ways Hollywood's tendency to favor men has affected women. While some people seem to think that women's struggles are diminishing, many, including many actresses who have spoken out against sexism in Hollywood, argue that sexism is actually becoming more prevalent. worse. Since most films are made by men, the opinion of producers tends to be that what makes a film successful is a strong male protagonist, leading to supporting men more than women for fear of missing out on box office success (Tremeer). Melissa Silverstein, founder of the Hollywood feminist website Women and Hollywood, believes that many people assume that sexism in Hollywood is decreasing, but that this is a false assumption, likely caused by the increasing amount of talk about sexism. Because some women are very successful, many people think this implies that men and women are starting to become equal in Hollywood, but the opposite is true. Women make up half of the world and should therefore make up half of the successful people in Hollywood (Cohen). Emma Thompson, who has been in the industry for nearly three decades, says expectations about female appearance, along with other aspects of Hollywood sexism, are worse than they were when she first started working in the industry (Robinson). it's just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion Many women, almost all of them A-list actresses, have spoken openly about the sexism and prejudices they face in their lives.