Shepherd 1

Madison Shepherd

Trotter

Brit Lit 2

4 February 2019

Lauzen, Martha M. “Indie Women: Behindthe-Scenes Employment of Women in Independent

Film, 2017-18.” W
​ omen In TV Film​, 2018,

womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2017-18_Indie_Women_Report_

rev.pdf. In this article, the author provides a professional study of the role of women in

independent film from 2017 to 2018. Lauzen’s studies found that independent films

shown at high-profile film festivals in the U.S. employed more than twice as many men

than they did women. Even in independent film, where more opportunities are

available to women, women are still grossly underrepresented in comparison to their

male counterparts. This article provides clear proof of the insufficient roles that women

play in making films and helps to reveal the need for someone like me, a woman

interested in film, to create my own ways of getting exposure outside of the typical

paths that tend to exclude women and other marginalized groups.

"Film and the Women's Movement." A

​ merican Decades​, edited by Judith S. Baughman, et al.,

vol. 8: 1970-1979, Gale, 2001. S

​ tudent Resources In Context​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3468302572/SUIC?u=rive31076&sid=SUIC&xid

=ac254670. Accessed 5 Feb. 2019. This article summarizes the history of the

treatment of female characters in film, highlighting the importance of having more

female voices in the writer’s room. The author uses several different examples to
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inform readers on the different archetypes that have existed since early in film history.

Women have continuously been misrepresented throughout film history due to a lack

of gender diversity behind the scenes. This article only further strengthens the

argument for more women in high power positions in the film industry and will

encourage other women to fight for a place in the industry.

Cook, Marcy. “The Male Gaze Vs. Female Gaze.” B

​ OOK RIOT​, BOOK RIOT, 5 Jan. 2018,

bookriot.com/2015/04/20/male-gaze-vs-female-gaze/. This article explores “The Male

Gaze” and “The Female Gaze”, two highly controversial topics that discuss the way

characters (typically female characters) are depicted differently when there are more

women working behind the scenes. Cook uses the James Bond and Twilight

franchises as examples of the distinct differences between The Female Gaze and The

Male Gaze. While The Female Gaze tells a love story (not a great love story, but a love

story nonetheless) through lingering looks, touches, and facial expressions, The Male

Gaze tells the love story by selling sex to it’s audience. Some will argue that The

Female Gaze just tells the perspective of a heterosexual woman in the same way The

Male Gaze tells the perspective of a heterosexual man (ergo by sexualizing their

subjects), but movies told from the so-called “Female Gaze” tend to rely more on story

and character. Women need to be given the opportunity to tell their stories because

they bring life to the women they’re writing about.

Lauzen, Martha M. “Women @ The Box Office.” C

​ enter For The Study Of Women In Television

and Film​, 4 May 2008,

womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/Women%20@%20Box%20Office.pdf. A common excuse

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for women being denied opportunities that would help to build their careers in the

industry is because movies made by women simply aren’t as good or don’t make as

much as movies by men do, but statistics prove that quite the opposite is true. When

female directors are given the same budget as male directors, the box office numbers

are practically identical according to Lauzen’s research. As I enter into the industry, I’d

like to continue this investigation into why women are being regarded as less than

capable when box office records and ratings reflect nearly the same ability between

men and women.

BFI Filmography , 5 Feb. 2019,

filmography.bfi.org.uk/films?filters=ZFswXT0xOTk5JmRbMV09MjAxOCZkWzJdPTAm

Zz0mY1tmN11bZ2JdPWhpZ2gtY3JldyZwdFswXT1mYWxzZSZwdFsxXT10cnVlJnB0

WzJdPVVTJmtyWzBdPTM5NTY0N3wzOTU2NTd8Mzk1NjQ4fDM5NTY1NCZrclsxXT0

ma3JbMl09b3I.

The British Film Institute has kept record of every movie directed, written, produced, or

edited by a woman in the last twenty years and they unfortunately reflect a decline in

women made films within the last year. In 2018, only twenty three of all studio films

released was a woman in one of the key roles (director, writer, executive producer, or

editor). I plan to center my capstone not only on encouragement for other women

interested in film, but also on awareness for the lack of women in the industry and how

that plays a part in our perception of women.