The Pop Culture: Sexism in Modern Movies

Student’s Name Course Instructor Date Pop Culture: Sexism in Modern Movies For many years, sex has been used as a determinant of how people are treated or the types of opportunities they are given access to. The past years have seen a lot of discrimination being directed against the women who for a very long time have been perceived as being physically and mentally weak. With the rise of feminism in the modern age, much of these prejudices and discrimination have reduced. However, it requires a lot of effort for the sexism problem to be eliminated completely, especially since the movie industry is still flooded with the notions that women are the weaker sex and hence face limitations in the industry. In this regard, it is important to look at gender inequality in the industry, how women are portrayed on screen and the role the society plays to influence this kind of portrayal and status of the women. The modern movie industry is rife with incidences of gender inequality when it comes to wages, assigning roles and in awards. Concerning wages, Pires (pg. 1) notes that women in the film industry are paid way lower than men, despite performing the same tasks or holding the same positions. The study adds that the wage gap between actresses and their male counterparts in Hollywood is great and that the industry generally does not like the idea of paying women for their work. As Pires (15) affirms, “Hollywood loves leading ladies but likes them less when it comes to how much they are paid for their work.” Based on this there is reason to believe that women in the industry are seen as less deserving regardless of whether they perform well or not and that is why they receive this kind of treatment. When it comes to other roles beyond acting women still get the same unfair treatment and they are given fewer positions in the topmost jobs. For instance, a 2014 research on Hollywood found that among directors, only two percent were women, among producers the percentage was 19 for women and women writers were only eleven percent (Pires 17). The above scenario is unfair to the female gender, especially since research has shown that more money is made from those movies that have females as the lead characters compared to where males are in the lead roles. A study by Sweeney also investigated the same issue of wage gaps in the film industry with particular concern with how different genders were rewarded. According to Sweeney (N.p), male actors who won awards such as the Academy Award, they enjoyed a huge increase in their salaries as a way of appreciating their work. However, the case was different for actresses who won the same award; the reward was nothing close to that of the males. All these factors point towards an industry that heavily discriminates against the women. Sexism in modern movies is shown through the portrayal of women on screen. Women in film are expected to meet certain standards and maintain a particular image failure to which they are subjected to harsh criticism. According to McDowall (N.p), the movie industry insists on appearance and success for any woman who wishes to be on screen. As a result, this has set unrealistic beauty standards, which women have to strive to meet in order to please the males. Even though this is mainly meant for entertainment, this portrayal of women...