Women in Cinema: The Struggle for Roles & Recognition

• • Topic: Women in Cinema: The Struggle for Roles & Recognition

  The Topic that I am considering doing for the class final project is a magazine styled article that discusses the struggles women from that past and present have had while attempting to achieve recognition within the industry. Women such as; Marion Dougherty (casting director), Tracey Moffat (film director), Greta Schiller (director, producer, cinematographer), Sofia Coppola (director), Agnes Varda (director, producer), and many, many others, have all had to (and still have to) overcome the obstacles of finding their roles in film, looking past all of the gender bias and notions that film and cinema is a 'man's industry'. There are so many great female directors; cinematographers; producers; casting directors; editors; and grip members throughout history that helped shape so many films that we as spectators deem as 'classics' and 'must sees', who have challenged society's way of looking, yet many of which, people still haven't heard about. Its appears that there has always been a huge difference in percentages between men and women working behind the scenes in cinema and film, and those numbers are either dropping even lower, or have remained at a constant for at least three years, if not more.

  My goal is to create a researched supported opinion article that hopefully has the power to inspire women and all others who have felt ostracized within the film practice, young and old, to follow in the footsteps of the great women pioneers of film industry, and those who are just recently starting to make a name for themselves. I am going to construct a magazine cover (brush up on my photo-shopping skills), that features a number of powerful, professional women in the field. No one is going to change the nature of cinema for us, we have to do it ourselves. Maybe by understanding more about how these women fought discrimination, and still had the strength to do what they love, this goal could be achieved. I hope to inspire females all over the world, with different cultures and ideas to stick to their guns and just go for it. The worst that could happen? We realize a flaw in our strategies, in our approaches and attempts, and we learn from them. As an aspiring worker in post production in film and television, I am also very curious about how one gets their foot in the door and paves the way for a future in a creative career that is mainly driven by men. For this I will research numerous internship opportunities and entry level positions, for those who have the same dream of working with film, despite the hardships that are expected to come, and study how often women actually get the positions they interview for. How many denials and rejections did they have to go through before they landed the positions they sought out for, if they even did. I hope this article will inspire and motivate young women to actually get out there, in the media field, and go for it. The Industry needs more young people especially women, as illuminated in the Celluloid research findings. We make up only a small percentage of the hundreds/ thousands of people working in the film industry, and It can quite discouraging for aspiring editors, colorists, cinematographers, directors and producers that feel held back because of their age and gender.

  One day I hope to have my name listed among these groundbreaking women, and who knows, maybe one day I will (maybe I'll just add it in my pretend magazine just because) :}

  
  

  
  

  • Research thus far:

  
  

  1. The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2012 by Martha M. Lauzen, Phd.
  2. Rickey, Carrie. "Female Directors Gain Ground, Slowly."The New York Times. N.p., 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/movies/female-film-directors-slowly-gain-ground.html?_r=1&>.
  3. http://www.guerrillagirls.com/
  4. Kang, Inkoo. "Weekly Update for November 8: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You."Women and Hollywood. Indie Wire, 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/weekly-update-for-november-8-women-centric-directed-and-written-films-playing-near-you>.
  5. http://www.feministfrequency.com/
  6. "WMM | ABOUT | JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS."WMM | ABOUT | JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. <http://www.wmm.com/about/jobs.shtml>.
  7. Jamie. "Women, Action, & the Media."WAM. Gender Focus, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. <http://www.womenactionmedia.org/2013/02/26/my-boobs-and-i-are-outraged/>.
  8. Lyn, Charlie. "Hollywood Plotlines Are Still Sidelining Women." The Guardian. The Guardian, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/02/don-jon-no-real-women-in-hollywood>.

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