Emma Watson has been a prominent voice in addressing gender inequality and she continues to do so in an interview with The Guardian in which she discusses the sexism she’s experienced as an actress in Hollywood. Watson discusses the fact that the people in leadership positions on many of the projects she’s worked on have been male.
“I have been directed by male directors 17 times and only twice by women. Of the producers I’ve worked with 13 have been male and only one has been a woman,” she said. “But I am lucky: I have always insisted on being treated equally and have generally won that equality.”
Watson notes that in male-dominated work environments, it’s often hard for men in charge to relate to women when there are problems in the workplace. “If something does go wrong in the workplace, the support network is not brilliant. The men at the top often find it difficult to relate to a lot of the problems women face and therefore, we aren’t taken very seriously.” But it’s not all bad. Watson also says that she has had the privilege of working with men who hold feminist values and expressed her displeasure towards women who perpetuate sexist and discriminatory practices.
Still, the lack of women in director and producer roles is a clear issue in Hollywood. If we want better portrayals of women onscreen, if we want to get rid of the kind of sexism and inequalities Watson has dealt with, it’s important for there to be more women in leadership roles – their insight could prove to have a positive effect on how women are portrayed onscreen and maybe, how they’re paid offscreen. The Sony hack emails that hit the Internet late last year showed that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid less than their male costars in American Hustle, only seven percent compared to the boys’ nine percent. Obviously, gender inequality is rampant in Hollywood and it is good that actresses are calling attention to the issue – and calling for change.
[via the Guardian]
