A year ago, actress Robin Wright denounced the Netflix platform for paying her a lower salary than her colleague Kevin Spacey, both co-stars in the House of Cards series.
Since then, like her, dozens of actresses, producers, directors, etc. , began to talk publicly about gender inequality that exists in the industry.
- Forbes magazine has already published Hollywood’s list of highest-paid actors and actresses: the highest-paid male actor.
- Dwayne Johnson.
- Earned a total of $89.
- 4 million this year.
- While actress Scarlett Johansson.
- $56 million.
However, there are six other players on this list, meaning the highest-paid actress in the American film industry this year received about the same amount as the sixth highest-paid actor.
Wage discrimination is therefore obvious. Moreover, this gender inequality is not just monetary.
In Spain, a study published by Aisge and the Union of Actors and Actresses reported that one in three roles is aimed at a woman, and also found that only 34% of the starring roles are women.
The same study describes that, to a large extent, the explanation of this data lies in the variable age, as the woman ages, the possibility of having a leading role decreases.
Of the total number of films analyzed, only 24% of the roles of protagonists over the age of 45 were attributed to women, a figure that has been reduced to 20% for roles over the age of 64.
Since its inception, cinema has evolved with history, in every age films reflect the beliefs and social reality of that era and, with it, the position of women in society itself.
Feminist movements and multiple demands for women’s equality in all walks of life have changed the way women are reflected in film.
A clear example of this is the comparison of the first films made by Walt Disney studio with those it produces today, where the roles of Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella in the films contrast with that of Elsa or Moana.
In these latest productions, the female role is no longer a complement to the male. His developmental arc no longer revolves around the search for his “ideal prince,” and focuses on his own journey of empowerment and personal growth.
Bechdel’s test first appeared in 1985 in the comic strip The Rule, written by Alison Bechdel, and is based on the idea that to avoid gender inequalities, a film, series, comic book or other medium must meet at least three requirements:
The latter requirement should not be limited to purely romantic topics, the conversation should not be about the male sex, whether husband, brother, father or neighbor.
According to the Bechdel Test Movie List, in 2015, approximately 61% of the nearly 130 scans passed the test. Despite all this, the Bechdel test is not always synonymous with equality.
There are films that meet all three requirements, but which, by their argument, cannot be considered equal. In addition, the opposite may also happen, as is the case with “Gravidade”, winner of seven Oscars.
Cinema is another industry with gender inequalities, as we have seen, age has a great influence on the way actresses are treated, but this variable is not as decisive in the case of actors.
In this sense, the Bechdel test was created almost 35 years ago with the aim of establishing requirements that served as indicators of gender equality in films.
However, the updating and effectiveness of this method has been discussed in recent years, in addition to the question of whether these requirements must evolve to meet the cinema of today’s society.