Savannah Lyons - 3rd entry

I think there's a reason Miss Representation has been shown in more than one of my classes throughout my college career, and that's because it's powerful. It puts our world -- more specifically, the popular culture we are all consuming each and every day -- underneath a microscope. Through a finely-tuned lens, it reveals how the subtlety of the media, advertisements, and pretty much everything else that people make to persuade other people, create an ideology for how women are supposed to exist.

As a woman with an interest in writing and shooting my own screenplay someday, knowing the facts about Hollywood and the film industry can be daunting and discouraging. For example, there's a 5 to 1 ration of men working on films to women. In Academy Awards history (a ceremony that's 86 years old), four female filmmakers have been nominated for best director, but only one has ever won. In 2013, during the 85th Academy Awards, across 19 countries, only 35 women were nominated compared to the 140 men. There were no female nominees for directing, cinematography, film editing, writing (original screenplay), or music (original score). What does that say to the people watching the award ceremony at home? To the people there, in the seats? And to the people -- specifically, women -- who dream of being nominated for such awards?

But the inequality spreads past the behind-the-scene workers and into the pool of actors and actresses as well. In 2013, the highest paid female actor, Angelina Jolie, made $33 million, roughly the same amount as the two lowest-ranked men. Furthermore, age appears to be a dominant factor in an actress's monetary success compared to men. And of the 16 biggest paychecks earned by actors per film, not a single one was earned by a female actor.

The saddest, most frustrating part about all of this is that it's real. Not facts from a movie, or a cause being fought against in a song. But it's this perpetuation of stereotypes, expectations, and ideologies regarding women in popular culture that continue this cycle of inequality.

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