Madison Galt

Instructor: Sarah Lehleitner, Film 1070 – Summer 2021

Signature Assignment – Women in Film

Woman: An adult female human being. Women have been around just as long as men,

yet we are almost always treated differently. From not getting paid the same amount for the same

level of work, to the “roles” that are assigned to us. The film industry is no exception.

Throughout history, women in film have historically been misrepresented and objectified. It

doesn’t matter if you’re Latino, African American, Asian or White, women have had to fight for

their place within the film industry all because they don’t have the dominant antimony between

their legs. Let’s take a look at what women have had to endure over the last century to make it

big in Hollywood.

Hollywood has always favored the male sex. From the beginning Hollywood has used

white patriarchal capitalism as the foundation for how they make and produce films (Benshoff &

Griffin, 2009, pg. 25). That is, they almost always have a white male manly figure as the

protagonist and everyone else is just supporting roles. Women are almost always represented as

being meek and weak and in the need for a man to rescue them. That was all women were good

for. They weren’t complete unless they were happily married to a white man. Hollywood did

their part in instilling this belief by the images they portrayed.

Since the beginning of film woman have been seen in a limited number of roles. Some of

the first roles include the sweet, innocent virgin or the vamp. Mary Pickford is an example of the

sweet, pure, child like role, where Theda Bara is an example of the exotic, sexual, vamp role

(Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pgs. 218-221). Even though they are opposite characters they both

ultimately need one thing, man. Once again bringing us back to white patriarchal capitalism. But

how do these roles affect the actresses behind the character?

 Clara Bow is another example of the “vamp” or the updated flapper role. She played a

“loose” girl with low standards. Because that was the only way people saw her on film, they

assumed that was who she was as a person. Hollywood wanted its viewers to believe that she

was an It girl so they would believe her roles more. This ultimately led the young actress to retire

from film at the age of 28 (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 222). Mary Pickford had a much

different story. After playing the sweet innocent role time and time again Mary Pickford earned

the name “America’s Sweetheart”. After making 194 movies Mary retired from her successful

career both in front and behind the camera at the age of 41. At the height of her career, she was

the most famous and richest female actor in the US (Mary Pickford).

Where Mary Pickford was successful others were not. Mary was white and blonde,

making her what men find the perfect beauty. Women of different races have struggled, and still

do to this day, to find the level of success Mary did. Women of Hispanic background were often

forced into the same roles over and over again. Latin Lovers were very common for Latinas to

play. Dolores Del Rio was routinely cast as a Latin lover, not giving her much depth or freedom

to explore her acting abilities. After a while she returned to Mexico to pursue more serious

dramatic roles (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 148). Another successful (at least while being

Latino) was Carmen Miranda. People to this day probably recognize her most notably with fruit

on her head dancing around. This unfortunately is just another take on the “vamp” or

“bombshell” stereotype that women were limitedly cast into.

Latina actresses could find more success if they were willing to “conform” and be

“white”. Rita Hayworth formally known as Margarita Cansino, found more success when she

denied her ethnic background and even took it as far as dying her hair and raising her hairline to

appear “more-white” (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 150). Latino actresses could also find roles
playing other ethnicities. Dolores Del Rio played Native American characters, taking away the

opportunity for Native American women to be on the big screen (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg.

112). Latina women struggled to get lead roles and would continuously get side cast while white

women got cast as “fake” Latinos. Rita Moreno is the first Hispanic actress to win an Oscar for

her supporting role next to a white lead Natalie Wood who was pretending to be Latino

(Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 153).

African American women were no different in getting cast into limited roles. The tragic

mulatto was a standard role for women of color to play. Dorothy Dandridge found success

playing this role. But like other women before her she grew tired of constantly being cast as the

same character, she overdosed on pills when she was 42 years old (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg.

87). Unlike Latino women, African American women can’t as easily become “more-white”. That

doesn’t stop these women from trying to achieve the “ideal” beauty that the male society has

deemed beautiful. 57% of leading Black ladies in film have standard “white” hairstyles instead

of embracing their real hair. And only one-in-five (19%) have dark skin tone (Representations of

Black Women in Hollywood).

Asian women also find it hard to break out of the same standard roles as any other race.

Asian women are usually cast as China dolls, or Geishas (the sweet and innocent) or Dragon

Ladies (vamp). Both these characters needed one thing, a man (preferably white) to dominant,

protect and care for them (The Portrayal of Asian Women in the Media (Past vs Present). Wong

Liu Tsong found success playing the Dragon Lady. However, like Rita Hayworth, Tsong

changed her name to sound “more-white” in order to be cast in more movies and Anna May

Wong was born. But like many actresses before her she too grew tired of the way Asian women

were treated and left the country to film elsewhere (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 130).
 The way in which women are filmed vs men is very noticeable. The film industry is

mostly male which means that our audience is mostly male, therefore we need to film and

produce movies that will appeal to mostly males. Women are routinely filmed through the male

gaze. They wear little to no clothing, have the perfect hair and makeup and are just the right

amount of playful. This activates men’s voyeuristic pleasures, and that’s what sells tickets

(Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 243). By making all woman play and look the same, this takes

away from their individuality and what makes them unique.

Women, no matter their race have it tough in the film industry, and not just in front of the

camera. In a recent survey, women only make up 34% of directors in Hollywood to man’s 66%

(Lauzen). Again, men make up 66% of speaking roles in movies to women’s 34%. Only 14 of

the top 100 feature films of 2019 were gender balanced, male taking up 54.9% and female at

45%. Only 17% of those leading roles were ladies of color (2019 Statistics). One of the most

famous female filmmakers was Dorothy Arzner. She challenged the patriarchal system of ideals

and featured topics in her films that were considered “not appropriate”. However, to make it in

Hollywood and be respected she made herself one-of-the-boys by wearing tailored suit-dresses

and talked tough (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 225).

A few modern actresses of different race (other than white) that have found success

in today’s film industry are Salma Hayek and Hallie Berry. Salma Hayek started her career off

playing the Latin Lover but was able to step out of that role and into a more serious role when

she played the lead in Freda. She is now a respected producer and is behind the scenes on many

hit shows (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009, pg. 159). Viola Davis made history with the most Oscar

nominations however, Hallie Berry remains the first and only Black woman to receive the Oscar

for a Leading Role (15 and Nolfi).

 In conclusion, women have been highly underrepresented in Hollywood since the

beginning of film and still are to this day. Women make 56% less than men in film (Hollywood’s

Million Dollar Gender Pay Gap). We have a long way to go to get equal to where men are at. A

more recent movement to get equality and justice for women in film is the Me Too movement,

but that’s a whole other topic. Until there are more women behind the camera and can bring their

thoughts and ideas and styles to the screen, we are going to keep seeing the white patriarchal

capitalism that we have been seeing since the beginning of film.

 Works Cited

Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality
at the Movies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

"Hollywood's Million Dollar Gender Pay Gap – Revealed." University of Huddersfield. Web. 05
Aug. 2021.

Lauzen, Martha. "Research." Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Center for
the Study of Women in Television and Film, 17 June 2016. Web. 04 Aug. 2021.

“Mary Pickford.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Pickford.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Woman. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/woman.

"Representations of Black Women in Hollywood." See Jane. 30 Mar. 2021. Web. 04 Aug. 2021.

"The Portrayal of Asian Women in the Media (Past vs Present)." SJSU WOMS 20 Women of
Color. Web. 04 Aug. 2021.

"2019 Statistics." Women and Hollywood. Web. 04 Aug. 2021.

15, Joey NolfiMarch, and Joey Nolfi. "Viola Davis Makes OSCARS History as Most-nominated
Black Actress." EW.com. Web. 05 Aug. 2021.