Fourteen leaders of women’s media organizations and unions, representing over 40,000 professional members of Canada’s film and television industry have called for changes in government policy to promote gender equity in employment and public funds for media production.
A communique released October 14 at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival underlined that “In virtually every field and in every industry, working women face a glass ceiling that… has simply moved up a level of seniority. Research from a wide range of sources and sectors consistently shows that the proportion of women and visible minorities declines sharply as one moves up the ladder to more senior roles. Women are estimated to make up less than 25% of senior management roles in screen-based media industries. At least half of the Canadian broadcasters report that they have no women on their ownership teams or boards of directors.”
“The impact of gender disparity among directors and writers extends to the employment opportunities for women actors, cinematographers and editors,” the summit communique points out.
“A further critical consequence of the gender imbalance behind the scenes is that women and girls are still largely stereotyped and sexualized in on-screen portrayals. Numerous studies from Québec as well as from the U.S., G.B., Australia and Europe conclude that female characters are far more likely to be shown in sexy attire, with exposed skin, portrayed as thin and referred to as desirable by other characters; and that they are less likely to be shown as having careers, working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) or occupying positions of leadership in business or government.”
Among the recommendations; Public investment in media industries should be tied to a requirement to demonstrate gender balance, and government media funding agencies and production institutions should report annually to the Canadian public on gender and racial representation in government spending, including tax incentives.
More information:
St. John’s Summit on Women in Media Communique (pdf) – here
St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival – Women’s Media Organizations Call on Government for Gender Equity Policy – here
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