Its Time To Call Out Award Season Sexism

By Vera Hanson
Oscar season is fast approaching and the biggest question on your mind should be: how many women
will be ignored this year? Already, power players like Johnny Depp and Matt Damon are rumored to be
shoo-ins for Best Actor, while Quentin Tarantino and Tom McCarthy will likely receive nominations for
Best Director. These men are talented, no doubt, but where are all the talented women?
News flash: theyre trapped in the Academys male-centric world where female stories are simply not
valued as highly as those of their male counterparts. According to Newsweek, the issue is not merely that
Hollywood fails to produce a sizeable amount of films about women. Rather, the issue is that, even when a
female-centric film secures a nomination, the rate of winning is intensely lower than the rate for malecentric films.
Importantly, its not just stories about women that are overlooked. The few female directors, producers
and writers who do earn nominations are consistently not winning in categories across-the-board. The
Womens Media Center reports that only 19 percent of non-acting nominees were women last year. Not to
mention that in seven categories, including Directing, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Original
Score, not a single woman received a nomination. In 1995, only 26 percent of the total nominees were
female that is, to date, the highest percentage of female nominees in Oscar history.
In 2009, Kathryn Bigelow was the first female director to ever win Best Director for The Hurt Locker,
and only three other women have ever been nominated in that category. To put that in perspective, the
Academy formed in 1927 which means that, in 82 years, only one female director has ever won an Oscar
for her work. One. 82 years later.
So, whats going on? Women are passionate about film, attending film school, and working in the
industry. But, even in 2015, sexism prevails in the entertainment business. Female filmmakers and actors
constantly tell stories of not being taken seriously in meetings and on set. More than that, there just arent
enough women at the top who can serve as models of success for other aspiring women. The core
problem is that the Hollywood film industry is historically male and built on concepts of the past. Even
today, search the top 100 American directors on IMDB and not a single woman appears until Kathryn
Bigelow at number 97.
Hollywood was built and run by men and for decades it has continued to praise the privileges of male
filmmakers and actors. More than one woman might appear on the top 100 lists if more women were
honored for their work in the industry.

So, while its easy to question how much an Oscar nomination or win really means, I dare you to
reconsider. Talented women are making groundbreaking work and actresses are starring in films with
leading female characters, but their work is simply not being acknowledged. As a result, women do not
hold top positions in the industry and their stories are not being told. So, come January of this year, when
Oscar buzz is in full swing and chatter about nominees is impossible to ignore, challenge yourself and
others to pay attention to the often-disregarded women of Hollywood.