Ringing into 2020, one would assume that female representation would be abundant at the Oscars.
But it seems that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are still stuck in the 1920s, with women director nominees being a scarcity.
Since the first Oscars ceremony in 1929, there have only been five female directors nominated, according to a recent United Nations Women’s Twitter post.
Among the five, only one secured a golden statue. Kathryn Bigelow snagged the best director award in 2012 for her incredible film “The Hurt Locker.”
Who knew a woman could direct a movie about an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team getting infiltrated by enemies of the Iraq war, and then win an award for her depiction?
Don’t worry ladies, we still won with some stellar nominations in this year’s awards for best actress and supporting actress.
We should be thankful, because to compensate for our inability to measure up to men’s talents, they segregated the previous categories to give us a winning chance.
Clearly, the academy’s governing body, does not care enough about women to provide us with an equal playing field, so, why not increase our opportunities and elevate our experience by gendering all the categories including best director?
No sir, women and men do not need to have similar muscle mass or body weight index to compete for an award that is dedicated for creativity. I know – shocker.
It’s understandable that there needs to be a distinction between women and men on an athletic field due to genetic factors, but to assume that body composition and creative disposition are synonymous is just undermining any woman’s capabilities.
It’s interesting that “Little Women,” led by female director Greta Gerwig, was nominated for six awards: Best costume design, music score, adapted screenplay, supporting actress, actress and best picture.
However, Gerwig herself, who brought each award to life, was missing from the running of best director.
If there was a distinct separation between male and female direction, one would naturally assume that Gerwig would be going home with the Oscar for best female director.
From 2007 to 2019, there have been 57 female directors who have contributed to 1,300 of the top-grossing films in America according to a University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report, a USC program studying and tackling diversity issues in the entertainment industry.
Yet, in that same time frame only two women have been nominated for their direction. That’s less than one percent of the incredibly talented women that poured their sweat and tears into creating fantastic entertainment that reeled in revenue.
Over the years, in the name of misguided full disclosure or transparency, the academy has released some of the names of the 8,000 people on the nomination committee.
These names have included female actresses Mindy Kaling and Rashida Jones. A great way to diversify their membership by inducting two women of color.
But, here’s the dilemma. A celebrity can only vote for those within the same category as them. This means that Kaling and Jones can only vote for best actress.
In 2018, the governing board had finally released the membership list on their website and were proud to state that “nine branches invited more women than men,” and that did not include the directors.
It is evident that the gender disparity in the award ceremony is not going to dissipate if they are not willing to integrate the categories on the basis of creativity.
Until the governing board can decide on the all-or-nothing approach on gender segregation, women will not have a fighting chance.
