It is no secret that men and women aren’t treated the same. We see it all the time in news media, entertainment media. In reality, we see it in all facets of media; in front and behind the camera. I know it can be a hard thing to grasp considering the amount of success women in the media have acclaimed in recent years. Yes, these successes are proof that the strides we’ve made are helping to produce a more progressive media, it’d be crazy to deny that. Still, we can’t ignore the fact that women aren’t getting equal treatment.
In 2013 Forbes released a special little chart showing the disparity between men and women in film.
This chart is just a small example of how men and women in the media, doing the same job, aren’t given equal treatment. The highest paid actresses usually rank among the lowest paid actors. Even in a year’s time we havent seen very much change at all. There’s very little difference between 2013 and 2014.
We’re all affected by this believe it or not. We cannot ignore the representation of the sexes in the media because the workings of the media bleed into society. We live by these ideals simply because it is what we see, and we continue to see it produced because it is how we live. Our actions determine what is produced and if we continue to consume content that adheres to the straight cis white male population that it what we’ll continue to get. This constant continuum of inequality is totally imprinted on our very being, but that’s not to say that it can’t be reversed. We must acknowledge our wrongs in order to make them right. We’re on our way, but I show you this to remind you that we aren’t as progressive as we think, and it is ignorant to act as such. We show promise. Everyday we see more and more signs of reaching true equality. Hopefully the results of 2015 reflect our efforts.
Side note: there are only two people of color on this list, both of which are male. The same goes for the 2014 list. I’ll dave that for another article.