Women Representation in the Media

Over the last couple of weeks, allegations against American film producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual abuse and harassment have skyrocketed as more and more women come forward with stories about the experiences they had while dealing with Harvey. So far, 93 women, ranging from well known actresses and faces of Hollywood, have come forward and I wouldn’t be surprised if that number continues to rise as others come forward.

Rape culture: the normalization or blaming victims of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment, is still a major issue in today’s society. One that affects all women regardless of status, career, or way of life. Young girls are taught how to defend themselves and prepare for the worst, since the worst has happened to 117,238 girls in Canada in 2016. However, we have to remember all we are doing in making sure the assault doesn’t happen to us, but to the other girl instead. We should be educating our boys and trying to change rape culture in our society. Learning how to stop the issue is much more effective than trying to educate those it is affecting. 

 

One of the main debates behind the Weinstein scandal is the idea that some of these allegations are from years ago. The issue with this argument is a lack of understanding within society. Women don’t want to come forward, or don’t feel they can come forward, as it can put at risk their careers, reliability and how they are seen in the public eye.

 Women need to have evidence for the sexual assault/harassment, and even when they do, will most likely be brushed off to the side. Victims are not taken seriously OR are put in a place where they have to prove their credibility in order to be listened to.

Women in Hollywood have faced an extremely biased world for years. Most of the world’s beloved actresses have a story or two about the trials they have had to overcome because they are not taken as seriously as their male counterparts. As society evolves and women are valued more, the representation we see for powerful female leads are still few and far between. In the years 2015-2016, females accounted for 31%-41% of major characters on screen depending on how many females were part of the directing and casting crew. 93% of films are directed by men. 88% of box office hits feature a male in a leading role. (You can watch a cheesy but effective video where it is all broken down here )

Image result for women in leadership charts film

 

The best part? Since 1998 these numbers haven’t gotten much better. We have taken leaps and bounds as a society and yet female representation has improved by a small fraction to where is should be, or has actually decreased from the original numbers. 

We have seen a dramatic increase in male co-stars beginning to take a stand in regards to sexist questions asked by the media. Society is also growing immensely and because of this I want to make it clear, I’m not blaming men as the root of the issue in Hollywood and in society.

Where are the strong female role models representing young girls? Simply put, those strong female characters on screen and in other forms of the media are lacking, making it hard for girls to see examples of how they are supposed to stand up for themselves and present themselves in order to be an effective leader.

 

By evening out the female leads in the media, it will make it easier for the world to see that females have a say in how the world works too, thus reducing the ideas of rape culture present in society and bringing forward a new generation of individuals who not only know the lasting consequences of acting out and performing these horrible things on females, but also instilling the ability to get to the bottom of the issue and changing the way women are seen in society.

 

Sources:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171003/dq171003a-eng.htm

Statistics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=173&v=SuHAMpg9FwQhttp://

www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/

Harvey Weinstein now has 93 accusers, 13 of them alleging rape

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