When the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements kicked off in 2017, feminists like us applauded the hardest. Finally, even Hollywood was forced to sit up and notice the abuse and exploitation women had been suffering for years. A cascade of allegations began against powerful men in the film industry and quickly spread to those in business, politics, sport and a host of other fields.
And yet, since then, progress in overthrowing the shackles of sexism from the film and entertainment industry has been slow.
According to a new research by Plan International and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the 56 top-grossing films of 2018 in 20 countries are still sending the message to girls and young women that leadership is mostly for men.
In these films, which earned more than $21 billion at the box office and were viewed by millions around the world, the sexualisation of women was a huge problem. Women leaders – be they presidents, CEOs or business owners – were four times more likely than men to be shown wearing revealing clothing; nearly twice as likely to be shown as partially nude and four times more likely to be shown completely naked. Male leaders were also much more visible than women: 42% of male, compared to 27% of female characters, were shown on screen as leaders.
“If we want to see more women in leadership positions in the real world, girls need to see more women leaders in the fictional worlds of entertainment media. In short, we know that “to be it, they must see it”. Without more women producing the content, there’s a real danger they won’t.”
Across the world, women still have a long way to go to claiming equal access to positions of power. They constitute 51% of the population, but globally hold just 24% of legislative seats, only 11% of head of state positions and fewer than 7% of CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies. Films, like other forms of media, have a huge role to play in perpetuating this inequality, by influencing how girls view themselves, and how they are viewed by others. Having women leaders as role models in films, on television, in print and online lets girls see that they can’t be limited and pigeon holed, that they have a right to be all that they choose to be. Seeing too few women in these mediums as leaders, as in the films we analysed, risks depriving girls of the inspiration they need to make their ambitions a reality.
Eighteen-year-old Ruby, a frontline youth activist with Plan International in Delhi, India, believes the lack of women leaders shown in films produced in Bollywood has a negative impact on girls’ confidence, which in turn affects their aspirations. “Women are often relegated to being dancers and just treated as objects of attraction,” she told us.
“If the character is a politician, it’s always a man who plays the part. If a woman is in politics, it is assumed that the only way they reach corridors of power is by compromising their integrity. On screen and in real life, girls and women are devalued and it is accepted as normal.”
“Let’s fund women filmmakers and invest more time and money in women and girls as storytellers of all kinds.”
Of course, the needle has moved a little since the birth of #MeToo and #TimesUp. We’ve had news of a female 007, a multitude of high-powered women characters in trail-blazing BBC hit Bodyguard and double the number of female celebrities in in this year’s Super Bowl adverts compared to 2018.
However, as our research shows, even when cast in formidable roles, women are still frequently portrayed on screen as sex objects. This reinforces the still widespread belief that female bodies only exist for men’s pleasure, undermines their credibility and authority, and makes it harder for them to command the respect they deserve in their careers and in their lives.
Seeing women leaders portrayed in this way also reinforces girls’ expectations that leadership is not for them. Our research earlier this year found that 90% of 15-24-year-old girls believe women leaders aren’t treated as well as men in leadership positions and the same percentage expect women leaders to be sexually harassed. These perceptions – which are only enhanced by constantly seeing the camera panned over women film stars’ bodies – make it less likely girls will rise up and claim the positions of influence they deserve.
Changing the way films and entertainment depict women – particularly women leaders – must become a crucial part of the movement to get more women into positions of power, so that more girls see themselves as future leaders. This means getting more women involved in filmmaking, television production and advertising. As Tricia Tuttle, head of the BFI London film festival said last month, the people making decisions about the top grossing movies are still mostly male. Our research corroborates this: not one of the top 56 grossing films globally in 2018 was directed by a woman, only a quarter had a woman producer, and only one in 10 had a woman on the writing team.
While it’s clear that awe-inspiring feminist entertainment can be made by men – check out this list of male filmmakers who have ensured the female voice comes through as strongly as the male – we definitely need more women involved in the process, and leading it, if we’re going to see the back of mainstream films and other media which objectifies women or consigns them to inferior roles. Let’s fund women filmmakers and invest more time and money in women and girls as storytellers of all kinds.
If we want to see more women in leadership positions in the real world, girls need to see more women leaders in the fictional worlds of entertainment media. In short, we know that “to be it, they must see it”. Without more women producing the content, there’s a real danger they won’t.
Geena Davis is an Academy Award-winning actor and chair and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen is the CEO of child rights organisation Plan International.