Do women have to strip in order to become an actress?
While this probably comes as a shock to no one who as ever watched an R-rated movie in the past five years, but a new study revealed that women are nearly three times more likely than men to appear either nude, or partially nude, in Hollywood movies and TV shows.
According to the annual Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California has highlighted the gender gap in mainstream American movies. The study found that 26% of female characters in the top 100 movies in the US box office in 2014 were shown undressed, as opposed to only 9% of male characters.
Vice recently asked an aspiring actress what’s like to audition for a role as a woman and she said:
VICE: When you’re reading scripts or going up for roles, do they tend to contain nude scenes?
Anna: I wouldn’t say that it’s typical of all scripts but it’s definitely present; maybe 25 percent of the scripts I read will explicitly request nudity. Or not really request, demand. Something like, “MUST BE OKAY WITH NUDITY” in bold at the bottom. Or, lamely, “small but pivotal role, some nudity.” I suppose they think breasts are usually the catalyst for a lot of really great narrative.In my experience, yes. Or it’s a woman, fully naked, guy with his top off, which just isn’t the same thing. At all. I also think, because there are so many more leading male roles than there are for women, men are able to stipulate whether or not they are willing to be nude in a production. There’s a decision-making process, whereas for women it’s just written like that and there’s already an expectation. [Via]
The study also points out the lack of leading roles by women; with just 12% of those films featuring a lead female character, and only 23% of characters with a job were women even though they make up 46% of the US workforce.
Despite the horrible statistics, the study did show a slight improvement in women working behind the camera, even though they still make up only 17% of all crew workers employed on the top 250 movies. In addition, fewer than one in five had a job as a major position such as a director, writer, or producer in a big-budgeted film over the past 15 years.
The study also examined diversity in the film industry – 74% of female characters were white, black women represented than 11% of characters and Asian and Latin women make up less than 4% of all acting roles.
Via: Independent
