The American Civil Liberties Union wants to finally get to the bottom of Hollywood sexism and thinks that calling on federal and state agencies to investigate solve it. The group focused on the gender disparity when it comes to directing, both for television and film.
The ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU Women’s Rights Project announced on Tuesday that they have sent letters to California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), asking the agencies to “investigate the systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry.”
“Blatant and extreme gender inequality in this large and important industry is shameful and unacceptable,” said Melissa Goodman, director of the ACLU SoCal’s LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project. “The time has come for new solutions to this serious civil rights problem.”
The ACLU’s letter comes just after the release of the San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s annual study of women directors in Hollywood was released. The study found that just 17 percent of people in major behind-the-scenes roles for the Top 250 grossing films were women in 2014. That’s the same exact percentage as it was in 1998.
On television, 70 network shows did not hire one woman to direct an episode in 2014.
“Women directors simply aren’t getting a fair opportunity to succeed, because of systemic discrimination,” said Ariela Migdal, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “It’s time for our civil rights enforcement agencies to take action to ensure that women have a level playing field.”
Even when it comes to casting, Hollywood has been blasted as sexist. Another San Diego State University study, published in February, found that just 12 percent of protagonists in 2014’s Top 100 grossing films were women.
Plenty of actresses have also complained about sexism in the industry. In April, Kristen Stewart called Hollywood “disgustingly sexist,” while Heather Graham added last year that it is “totally sexist.” As Salon notes, Anna Kendrick commented last week that male characters have to cast before female ones.
There was also shock earlier this year when Selma director Ava DuVernay wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. Indeed, since Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar in 2009, no woman has been nominated for the award.
image of Kathryn Bigelow courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com