The film industry, like all other platforms for expression, is reflective of the ideals and

views of the society it is designed for. Just as looking at famous works of art and those that

created it can provide a window into the culture of the place and time it was created, looking at
film can provide insight into the modern world, and how people perceive it. By studying how

gender influences the production of cinema both onscreen, by looking at gender tropes and the
portrayal of women, and off-screen, by viewing the role women have in the industry itself, it is
clear that film is male dominated and controlled. Encouraging realistic gender roles and

promoting women who create film will result in a significant shift representation in the film
industry

When looking at the onscreen sexism of film, it is important to pay attention to the

different genres, and the set gender tropes within them. For example, the horror genre has in

almost all cases been made for and marketed to men, and as a result, the female characters in
these films are often designed in a specific way to appeal to a male audience. Donato Tataro
explains in The Final Girl: A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror that he classic gender

trope of the Final Girl is a great example of how female portrayal can seem empowering, yet
have undercurrents of sexism and misogyny. Classic Slasher films often feature a female

character who survives until the end, usually overcoming the antagonist and becoming the only
character to be left alive. She is resourceful, smart, and lucky, and generally a pure, non-sexual
character. (Totaro, 2002) In contrast, it is often seen in American horror films that when a

woman has sex, or is seen in a sexual light, she consequentially dies. When a woman is the

antagonist, she will often us her sexuality as a way to lure in her victims. Although the final girls
sexuality does not define her fate or actions, she is often sexualized. At the end of the movie

clothing is torn and sweaty, and she becomes a character that caters to male fantasy rather
than female empowerment.

In direct contrast to the horror genre, Romantic comedies are indisputably produced for

a female audience. This genre has its own tropes with similar issues of representation. Women

are commonly portrayed with strong, no nonsense personalities, but they eventually soften up

after finding love. Lily Karlin explains in How Romantic Comedies Are Failing Women (And How
To Fix It) that while an independent and strong female lead is not necessarily a negative

portrayal, it is often seen that this character trope lacks depth. Showing a woman that has it all
figured out for herself, yet lets her life become totally and completely derailed by a romantic
situation is not a realistic representation. The assumption that women will put love over all

other aspect of their lives primarily drives the creation of these films. These women certainly
have their flaws, however their clumsiness, obsessions and imperfections are portrayed as

quirky and cute or endearing. Often these are the qualities that drive their male counterparts to
them. A recent example of this kind of gender trope is in the film Legally Blonde, in which Reese
Witherspoon plays a vapid and not very bright college student that enrolls in law school to win
back her ex-boyfriend. Although the film shows the main female character excelling in a male

dominated field, the plot does not include any deep character development that shows her as a
well-rounded and changed individual.

Gender tropes and archetypes feed into stereotypes and assumptive ideas about the

sexes. When a woman is seen as independent, she is simultaneously portrayed as difficult or

high maintenance. Similarly, when a man is shown as kind or emotional, he will almost always

be the loser that never gets the girl. These portrayals are not only unrealistic, but they also help

to perpetuate these ideals that surround men and woman in real life . Very few films show use

the masculinity of a woman for any other purpose than comedic effect, and feminine attributes
are always something for a man to overcome. This biased interpretation plays a large part in

why main characters rarely represent the LGBTQ community, because non cis characters often

break these gender norms. When these characters do take main parts in movies, they are often
over sexualized such as in the film Blue is the Warmest Color, and erotic film where a lesbian

relationship bring a sexual awakening to the main characters. Lesbian relationships in film are

often fetishized to the point where they are marketed to straight men, rather than the LGBTQ
community.

Sexism in the film industry is not limited only to what is onscreen, but also to the behind

the scenes production. In the article The Women of Hollywood Speak Out by Maureen Dowd,
the stark differences of being a man and woman in cinema are highlighted. Dowd uses the

example of Colin Trevorrow, a director who went from debuting his low budget indie film Safety
Not Guaranteed and Sundance to directing the recent Jurassic Park reboot titled and signing on
to the next Star Wars film in only a few short years. This type of success story is common for
male directors in Hollywood, and rare for women. The very few women to become industry

names, have done so on connections such as Sofia Coppola, the daughter of Godfather director
Francis Ford Coppola. This lack of diversity is not reflective of a lack of interest of women in the
field, but rather a lack of interest by studios in woman directors. In 2014, only 4% of major
studio releases were directed by woman, in contrast to more than 40% of the film show at
Sundance Film Festival in 2013 (Bernstein, Rhem).

Sexism in the film industry can also be seen in the dramatic pay gap between women

and their male costars. The recent leak of information on Sony provided insight into the

inequality that is seen in the film industry. It was revealed that Jennifer Lawrence, the female

lead in American Hustle was paid less that Jeremy Renner, who played not nearly as significant

of a role. The leak also revealed that nearly all of the high paid executives in the company were

white and male. This information led to an investigation by the Equal Opportunity Employment

Commission (Dowd). This is not the first time this type of corporate sexism has been exposed in
the industry, and it is clear that it affects all aspects of cinema. If the same demographic of
white males are the ones who greenlight and fund projects, there will be no change in the
representation of women on and off screen.

It is obvious that the representation of women in film is reflective of the systemic sexism

of women in todays society. From the onscreen portrayals of woman as flat and undefined

characters that are recycled again and again to the distinct lack of women in the production as
well as corporate aspect of the industry, clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed

regarding the media that is widespread throughout the world. When women are given the

opportunity to create film, the depth and reality of the portrayal onscreen will reflect those
that have a hand in the creative process.

Works Cited
Totaro, Donato. "The Final Girl: A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror." Offscreen. N.p.,
Jan. 2002. Web. 01 May 2016.

Karlin, Lily. "How Romantic Comedies Are Failing Women (And How To Fix It)." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 01 May 2016.

Legally Blonde. Dir. Robert Luketic. Perf. Reese Witherspoon. MGM Home Entertainment, 2001.
DVD.
Dowd, Maureen. "The Women of Hollywood Speak Out." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 21 Nov. 2015. Web. 05 May 2016.
Rhem, Diane. "Re: Women in Hollywood and Gender Equality." Audio blog comment.
Thedianerhemshow.org. National Public Radio, 16 June 2015. Web.

Bernstien, Paula. "Female Directors at Sundance Have a Long Way to Go, New Study Finds."
Indiewire. Indiewire, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. May 2016.