Hollywood’s leading ladies Geena Davis, Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan were in London at the opening of Sarah Gavron’s new feminist film ‘Suffragette’ which launched the London Film Festival 2015 this week. At a special preview screening and Q&A, hosted by Google at Soho House on Thursday 8th October 2015, the stars spoke about the making of the film which tells the story of women’s struggle to get the right to vote in Britain. The panel, consisting of Eileen Naughton, Managing Director, Google UK & Ireland; Meryl Streep who plays Emmeline Pankhurst in ‘Suffragette’; Carey Mulligan who plays Maude Watts in ‘Suffragette’; director of the film Sarah Gavron; Amanda Nevill, CEO of the British Film Institute and Geena Davis who founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, also discussed the wider gender inequality in the film industry. Ms Davis also shared tips that film companies can use to improve gender equality in this sector.
Behind the camera only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are female. In front of the camera the same gender ratio that has existed since the end of World War II. For decades, male characters have dominated nearly three-quarters of speaking parts in children’s entertainment, and 83% of film and TV narrators are male. The Institute’s research indicates that in some group scenes, only 17% of the characters are female.
“With such a dearth of female representation in front of and behind the camera, it’s a struggle to champion female stories and voices,” said Geena Davis. “The Institute’s research proves that female involvement in the creative process is imperative for creating greater gender balance before production even begins. There is a causal relationship between positive female portrayals and female content creators involved in production. In fact, when even one woman writer works on a film, there is a 10.4% difference in screen time for female characters. Sadly, men outnumber women in key production roles by nearly 5 to 1.”
The Institute has commissioned more than 12 groundbreaking research studies, and has amassed the largest body of research on gender prevalence in family entertainment, spanning more than 20 years. These studies, conducted by Dr. Stacy Smith, Ph.D. and her team at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, reveal decisive and startling evidence of gender inequality and rampant stereotyping in film and television. The Institute’s research serves as the basis for education and outreach programs that help families, studios, educators and content creators become critical consumers and producers.
Research Facts from the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media
Males outnumber females 3 to 1 in family films. In contrast, females comprise just over 50% of the population in the United States. Even more staggering is the fact that this ratio, as seen in family films, is the same as it was in 1946.
Females are almost four times as likely as males to be shown in sexy attire. Further, females are nearly twice as likely as males to be shown with a diminutive waistline. Generally unrealistic figures are more likely to be seen on females than males.
Females are also underrepresented behind the camera. Across 1,565 content creators, only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are female. This translates to 4.8 males working behind-the-scenes to every one female.
From 2006 to 2009, not one female character was depicted in G-rated family films in the field of medical science, as a business leader, in law, or politics. In these films, 80.5% of all working characters are male and 19.5% are female, which is a contrast to real world statistics, where women comprise 50% of the workforce.
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