Unmanageable Inequalities: Sexism in the Film Industry

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how gender inequalities are produced in the film industry. In the absence of industry or organizational interventions, these inequalities seem unmanageable. We present an exploration of the gendered working lives of below‐the‐line film workers in New Zealand, in the context of the western film industry. Repeatedly, women activists have pointed out that a perception of gender equity contradicts the statistics, which demonstrate traditional as well as ‘new’ forms of sexism. In this post‐feminist context inequality is typically invisible and unspoken, and there is a thriving narrative of meritocracy based on talent and determination, where ‘you're only as good as your last job’. Below‐the‐line ‘crew’ are distinguished from creatives in a hierarchy of creativity. In the New Zealand film industry, they are not unionized, and there are no policies addressing gender. From their perspective, their powerlessness in terms of employment rights is taken as a given, a price they pay for doing their dream job. In spite of beliefs about merit, talent and the ‘good idea’, women's ‘good ideas’ and their work capabilities across a range of roles are less likely to be recognized and rewarded than those of men.

Hollywood power brokers: Gender and racial inequality in talent agencies

“…This work highlights the ways that informality, precariousness, reliance on reputation and the centrality of networks disadvantage women (Banks, Gill, & Taylor, 2013;Conor, Gill, & Taylor, 2015;Finkel, Jones, Sang, & Russell, 2017;Handy & Rowlands, 2014;Wreyford, 2015). Other scholars have shown that gender stereotypes are used to justify occupational sex segregation within creative industries, wherein men hold positions with more power (Hesmondhalgh & Baker, 2015), and that low-end (or 'below-the-line') creative professions are structured around sexism, classism and stereotypically gendered job roles (Jones & Pringle, 2015). Other scholars have shown that gender stereotypes are used to justify occupational sex segregation within creative industries, wherein men hold positions with more power (Hesmondhalgh & Baker, 2015), and that low-end (or 'below-the-line') creative professions are structured around sexism, classism and stereotypically gendered job roles (Jones & Pringle, 2015).…”

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend …? Examining gender and careers in the jewellery industry

“…In this paper, following on from the work of Jones and Pringle (2015), we are extending Acker's framework beyond the organizational level to examine the workings of a particular cluster within the jewellery industry as we argue that there are a number of shared practices and processes across the industry in general and particularly across this cluster of jewellery designer/manufacturer/retailers which mean that gender disadvantage is institutionalised at that meso (local) level. Our research study examines the ways in which men and women in the BJQ account for their careers in order to examine the underlying gender regimes that influence the everyday practices of workers in this context.…”

Sexual Harassment in the Creative Industries: Tolerance, Culture and the Need for Change

“…Second, the study finds that women's concern about the sexual harassment they encounter is confounded by the common perception of harassment as a normalized part of occupational culture: a necessary component of career establishment or enhancement. This is not new per se : Jones and Pringle's () study of the film production industry reveals that workers accept many inequalities as a matter of ‘getting on’. With a focus on domestic and familial responsibilities (Banks and Milestone, ), these inequalities include long and irregular working hours (Eikhof and Warhurst, ), informal recruitment processes (Thanki and Jeffreys, ), and the important role of informal networking (Wittel, ).…”