little words, big screen.

editorial social issue photo story: the objectification, anonymity, and possessive descriptions of female characters in screenwriting.

The gender disparity and sexism in the film industry is incredibly disturbing - not to mention disheartening, especially for those working towards careers in this industry. Women are often withheld from leadership positions as well as crew positions, restricting them to the makeup and wardrobe departments. Only 1 woman has ever received an academy award for best director - only 7 have been nominated. The wage gap prevents studios from hiring women, and male leads receive twice as much screen time as female leads.

But the mistreatment of women starts with the examples we see - mainly how we depict women on screen.

Each of these images was created with a word or phrase commonly used to describe female characters in scripts and screenplays.

Many of these terms are attributed specifically to major box office hits such as The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Death Proof (2007). While men are depicted as “leaders,” “scholars,” and “CEO-types,” women are restricted to physical adjectives and their associations to other men.

With film and television as the most consumed form of entertainment, the translation from script to screen creates a visual representation of these careless and misogynistic descriptions. These misrepresentations frame the thinking of boys and girls as to what women can do and how they are to be treated.

Misrepresentation leads directly to mistreatment and misunderstanding. If this is how women are portrayed on screen, how can we expect them to be perceived differently in reality?

-

Inspired by the documentary film This Changes Everything (2018).