I worship Geena Davis. Not literally, of course. But I love both her movies and her work on the representation of women in the media. In case you didn't know, she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which has produced a lot of great research on the representation of women in the media. Since this is a blog post--that is to say, not an academic article or even a journalistic one--I think it is acceptable for me to rely heavily on this one source for citation and will do just that. I also feel that I will not be making entirely flimsy observations given that I have read many articles and studies that reach similar conclusions over the past few years. (My point is that I don't think that a blog post requires citations in the first place, and I cite only to show that I am not pulling facts out of thin air and to help anyone who is interested digging a bit deeper than I have here.)
Anyway, the findings from the Geena Davis Institute's studies are very disappointing and only work to highlight the under-representation of women's voices in the popular media. For example, male characters outnumber female characters 3 to 1 in family films, even though females make up about half of the American population. In addition, only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are women, creating a deficit in story-telling from a women's perspective. These kinds of damning numbers are why the Bechdel Test,* for all its limitations, remains relevant. (If you are not familiar with the Bechdel Test, there's a lot of writing on it out there on the interwebs and elsewhere, along with commentary about alternative tests derived from the original test...all this is worth reading about.)
So far, all I've said is that women and their voices are not properly represented in the popular media. So what? Well, a lot of things. For one, the shortage of on-screen role models for girls may send the message to both boys and girls that girls and women are less likely to occupy positions that command leadership and respect when they grow up. Similarly, stereotyping of occupations and societal roles by gender may teach children (as well as adults) to limit occupational goals or societal roles that a member of a particular gender seeks to pursue. Such an effect would tend to limit women's access to positions of power and more lucrative occupations that have traditionally been occupied by men. Sure, women have advanced into such positions and occupations over the years, and no one can deny progress, but equity has hardly been achieved in the film/TV industry or in many other fields (I mean, only in 2012 did the U.S. Senate finally manage to become 20% female).
Another issue that frequently comes up when discussing the representation of women in media is the sexualization or hypersexualization of female characters. (There is no shortage of data on this issue, but because I have one good source and am not particularly inclined to act like a journalist, academic, or lawyer, I will continue to cite studies from the same organization.) Just to throw out some of the disturbing findings, female characters are four times more likely than male characters to appear in "sexy attire" and are generally more likely to have unrealistic figures. Long story short, women are more likely to be valued for their appearances and sexual desirability, as opposed to being valued for their brains, personalities, and other attributes.
If the under-representation and stereotyping of women in film is the problem, what is the solution? At first blush, the solution may seem simple: take steps to promote women in film and TV production as well as a greater and more diverse representation of women. But what would achieving these goals really look like? Does it mean that all films are going to have an approximately 50-50 ratio of women and men at all levels of production and with regard to all types of characters? Does it mean that no film or show will sexualize women ever? Frankly, I don't think either of these goals should be achieved.
I do believe that the celebration of macho culture can have harmful effects on the position of women (as well as on men who do not conform to this culture). I also believe that the prevalence of misogyny and sexism in popular media undermines women. However, I do not believe that either of these beliefs support the conclusion that there should be no testosterone-fueled films/shows or that such films/shows can never be enjoyed by a feminist without hypocrisy. I think that there are fantastic films or appropriately entertaining films that depict (and even to some extent embrace) sexism or misogyny. I just don't think that recognizing the value of a film or a show is synonymous with embracing the values that are depicted in or embraced by that work. I mean, enjoying The Expendables or Sin City does not make me a failure as a feminist in the same way that my love for Brave or Orphan Black doesn't make me a "good" feminist. Or maybe the better explanation is that enjoying The Expendables or Sin City does not make me embrace the sexist/misogynist values in those films in the same way that enjoying these films does not make me believe that beating people to a pulp or slaughtering them is acceptable behavior in our society.
The challenge in dealing with misogyny and sexism in popular media is recognizing that that film or show portrays or embraces values with which you do not agree. An even bigger challenge is to make sure that other viewers aren't absorbing those values, even if they recognize the value of the film or show. This is where diverse portrayals and greater representation of women come in. If there is one film with various types of women who have meaningful story lines for every film that depicts women as shallow sexual objects, people are not bombarded with a singular message that stereotypes women and their roles in society.
There is clearly a place for films and shows that primarily star men, are led by men, and are told from the perspective of men. What is important is that that is not the end of the story: there is, to an equal degree, a place for films and shows that primarily star women, are led by women, and are told from the perspective of women. And by that, I mean that the ideal balance of films and shows would have about the same number of male-driven films/shows and female-driven films/shows (meaning works with storylines led by diverse and meaningful female characters) as well as a bunch of films/shows that have about the same degree of representation and emphasis on male and female characters.
*The Bechdel Test is a measure of gender bias in works of fiction. A piece of work "passes" the test if 1) it has at least two women in it (sometimes they must be named); 2) the two women talk to each other; and 3) the content of the conversation is about something besides a man.
Anyway, the findings from the Geena Davis Institute's studies are very disappointing and only work to highlight the under-representation of women's voices in the popular media. For example, male characters outnumber female characters 3 to 1 in family films, even though females make up about half of the American population. In addition, only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are women, creating a deficit in story-telling from a women's perspective. These kinds of damning numbers are why the Bechdel Test,* for all its limitations, remains relevant. (If you are not familiar with the Bechdel Test, there's a lot of writing on it out there on the interwebs and elsewhere, along with commentary about alternative tests derived from the original test...all this is worth reading about.)
So far, all I've said is that women and their voices are not properly represented in the popular media. So what? Well, a lot of things. For one, the shortage of on-screen role models for girls may send the message to both boys and girls that girls and women are less likely to occupy positions that command leadership and respect when they grow up. Similarly, stereotyping of occupations and societal roles by gender may teach children (as well as adults) to limit occupational goals or societal roles that a member of a particular gender seeks to pursue. Such an effect would tend to limit women's access to positions of power and more lucrative occupations that have traditionally been occupied by men. Sure, women have advanced into such positions and occupations over the years, and no one can deny progress, but equity has hardly been achieved in the film/TV industry or in many other fields (I mean, only in 2012 did the U.S. Senate finally manage to become 20% female).
Another issue that frequently comes up when discussing the representation of women in media is the sexualization or hypersexualization of female characters. (There is no shortage of data on this issue, but because I have one good source and am not particularly inclined to act like a journalist, academic, or lawyer, I will continue to cite studies from the same organization.) Just to throw out some of the disturbing findings, female characters are four times more likely than male characters to appear in "sexy attire" and are generally more likely to have unrealistic figures. Long story short, women are more likely to be valued for their appearances and sexual desirability, as opposed to being valued for their brains, personalities, and other attributes.
If the under-representation and stereotyping of women in film is the problem, what is the solution? At first blush, the solution may seem simple: take steps to promote women in film and TV production as well as a greater and more diverse representation of women. But what would achieving these goals really look like? Does it mean that all films are going to have an approximately 50-50 ratio of women and men at all levels of production and with regard to all types of characters? Does it mean that no film or show will sexualize women ever? Frankly, I don't think either of these goals should be achieved.
I do believe that the celebration of macho culture can have harmful effects on the position of women (as well as on men who do not conform to this culture). I also believe that the prevalence of misogyny and sexism in popular media undermines women. However, I do not believe that either of these beliefs support the conclusion that there should be no testosterone-fueled films/shows or that such films/shows can never be enjoyed by a feminist without hypocrisy. I think that there are fantastic films or appropriately entertaining films that depict (and even to some extent embrace) sexism or misogyny. I just don't think that recognizing the value of a film or a show is synonymous with embracing the values that are depicted in or embraced by that work. I mean, enjoying The Expendables or Sin City does not make me a failure as a feminist in the same way that my love for Brave or Orphan Black doesn't make me a "good" feminist. Or maybe the better explanation is that enjoying The Expendables or Sin City does not make me embrace the sexist/misogynist values in those films in the same way that enjoying these films does not make me believe that beating people to a pulp or slaughtering them is acceptable behavior in our society.
The challenge in dealing with misogyny and sexism in popular media is recognizing that that film or show portrays or embraces values with which you do not agree. An even bigger challenge is to make sure that other viewers aren't absorbing those values, even if they recognize the value of the film or show. This is where diverse portrayals and greater representation of women come in. If there is one film with various types of women who have meaningful story lines for every film that depicts women as shallow sexual objects, people are not bombarded with a singular message that stereotypes women and their roles in society.
There is clearly a place for films and shows that primarily star men, are led by men, and are told from the perspective of men. What is important is that that is not the end of the story: there is, to an equal degree, a place for films and shows that primarily star women, are led by women, and are told from the perspective of women. And by that, I mean that the ideal balance of films and shows would have about the same number of male-driven films/shows and female-driven films/shows (meaning works with storylines led by diverse and meaningful female characters) as well as a bunch of films/shows that have about the same degree of representation and emphasis on male and female characters.
*The Bechdel Test is a measure of gender bias in works of fiction. A piece of work "passes" the test if 1) it has at least two women in it (sometimes they must be named); 2) the two women talk to each other; and 3) the content of the conversation is about something besides a man.
