By Maia Lefferman, 11th grade
Imagine a world where Jack Nicholson has more Oscar nominations than Meryl Streep. In our current reality, her 21 nominations beats his 12, but if the Academy Awards acting categories weren’t separated by gender, the world might be very different. As made clear in statistics from past years and the often degrading roles that are given to women in the predominantly male movie industry, women — except in the gender-separate actor categories — are far less likely to win awards than men.

In an ideal world, the categories would all be gender-neutral and men and women would have an equal chance at winning. But for now, Oscar categories should remain separated by gender so women can have a chance to win.

The Academy Awards have always been gender-neutral in most other categories and they have been historically male-dominated. For instance, the gender-neutral Best Director category has only been awarded to one woman ever, and only four other women have been nominated. If acting categories were not separated by gender, then female actors, too, would be at a major disadvantage.

Gender difference in movie roles has been well documented. According to a USC Annenberg study of the 100 top films in 2017, only 33 percent depicted a female lead or co-lead. The same study also showed that only 29 percent of all speaking roles in movies are played by women. And this has been stagnant since the study first began in 2007. If a single Best Actor award was blind to gender, women would have a significantly lower chance of winning, because there are so many fewer of them to consider.

The statistics for other categories are just as extreme as those for Best Director. In the award for best cinematography, for example, only one woman has ever been nominated, and that was just last year.

In addition, the roles women are given have traditionally been less Oscar-worthy. In general, women are given the less serious, stereotypically unintellectual roles, while men are predominantly given the more substantial, deeper roles, which are more likely to attract nominations for the top awards.

Lack of female representation is known in the movie industry as “the inclusion crisis” — referring to the exclusion of various groups, not only women, throughout the movie industry. When there is more diversity behind the camera, there tends to be more diversity on the screen, but the inclusion crisis refers to both.

In 2016, people started to notice the absence of diversity in movies and the lack of racial, ethnic and gender diversity among Oscar award winners. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the awards, then announced that it would “commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.” When the academy has an equal amount of men and women making decisions, then it is more likely that the award winners will be equal. This is a step on the path of change that will lead the way to all categories being mixed gender.

I’m all for gender neutrality. Just the way an artist is called an artist and a teacher is called a teacher, an actor should be an actor. But until women are given the same opportunities in both quantity and quality to the opportunities given to men, these categories should continue to be separate, so women can continue to be recognized for the best work that they do.

NOTE FROM THE WRITER: I am a proud feminist and advocate for women’s equality and these views do not fully reflect my opinion in 2020. I was asked whether I would be willing to take this position and I found it very educational to learn about the pros and cons of the discussion. I understand and appreciate both sides of the debate. These issues are constantly evolving and I will continue to educate myself to advance the debate in a constructive manner towards equality for women.–  July 2020

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