ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

9 years, 11 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna

Fair points Claire. Especially the idea that matching family and career is easier now than in the 80s and before. Being a bloke I was unaware of this.
Incidentally I used inverted commas for 'inferior'. Though to be fair to you I had to go back to check. And whilst not strictly 'filmically' relevant I was reminded again of the recent fairly widely agreed idea (at least so I gather) that in Cro-Magnon times (and possibly before say approx 200 thousand years or so) women - the child bearers AND rearers (which shouldn't necessarily follow) stayed behind near the cave (wherever) and dug roots and gathered fruit and nuts and thereby contributed 90% of the sustenance for the tribe whilst the big butch men went out slaughtering animals which contributed less than 10%. In other words we're all here primarilly because of women. And ironically, indirectly because of male sexism.

9 years, 11 months ago - Alève Mine

Kelie what do you mean with "Positive gender discrimination"?

Marlom: "one with credits (for shows) and one without (for judging)" That's a great idea.

In that vein, did you see this? http://jezebel.com/homme-de-plume-what-i-learned-sending-my-novel-out-und-1720637627
"(the male pen name) is eight and a half times better than (her) at writing the same book."

9 years, 11 months ago - Claire Buckley

With respect to the OP, personally, I find positive discrimination and gender politics patronising on so many levels.

I held senior positions in the latter periods of my career not by quota but by merit and past experience. I didn't require workshops, conferences and other politically funded "initiatives" to feed any personal grievance believing I am not getting on in life and/or career because of gender, sexuality or other socially orientated constructs.

Example: I have recently completed my solo pilot's first flight. Most of my fellow flying club members are men. All have been supportive and helpful, not because I'm a 65-year-old female, but because we all share a common "non-competitive" vision, purpose and passion.

My clients hire me because I do a good job, on budget - and I relate to their purpose - not because they believe there should be more female producers.

Marlom touches on some very basic issues although simplified, but ones with which I agree. Often, we can do little to eradicate petty bias and competitiveness, prejudice or bigotory; but worse still in my opinion, not through any political ideology or another EU well-meaning tax-payer funded "declaration".

I am sure many do not share my own experience, understandably, but I well remember being visciously bullied as a 13-year-old because of my red "ginger" hair (or so they claimed). Likewise the girl with the half-frame glasses - the bullies were very selective in their efforts, and we could have a long discussion as to their own insecurities. But this did not make me think in later life I didn't get the job because I have red hair. I got the job inspite of being a "ginger" perhaps?

Claire

9 years, 11 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna

Ah the never ending discussion of women's under-representation vis a vis their abilities and/or qualifications. There is another related discussion of a very similar nature currently, and perhaps even more difficult to explain. This is on a Counselling and Psychotherapy blog on Linkedin. Apparently female counsellors outscore their male counterparts by three to one in terms of Ph.D qualifications yet are represented by nowhere near this proportion in positions of influence. I'm wondering how the women in film schools score academically vis a vis their male counterparts. It is tempting to wax vitriolically about male sexism and indeed perhaps we should. I'm just wondering what part the child bearing/rearing process plays in conditioning women to accept their 'inferior' status.

9 years, 11 months ago - Marlom Tander

Yesterday there was a similar discussion about the lack of female ballet choreographers.

Apart from the usual "nice girls don't push" stuff one of the ballerinas noted that "the girls do what they are told, but the boys will break the rules, try different steps, and don't mind being wrong, and maybe that's good for creating dances".

Men tend to be more competitive when chasing status, long story short, women find high status men attractive, so roles that are not simply won on merit, but merit plus bloody well fighting for it, will tend to go to men UNLESS action is taken to counter this. Please note that this is a statistical argument to explain an observation, not a "nothing can be done".

In classical music orchestras realised that many talented female students were leaving after college. So they brought in "auditions behind a screen" so that the panel had no idea who was playing and could simply judge by sound. Suddenly a lot more women got jobs.

Perhaps some way to make judges/funders blind to gender would be good. Perhaps Gender Neutral Festivals could be set up - contributors supply two versions of the film, one with credits (for shows) and one without (for judging).

9 years, 11 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I don't have a lot of direct experience of working with women directors, but I know there are a lot more women in the production side. I wonder if there's a slight gender slant towards multitasking and organisation over wanting to be adulated and visible?

9 years, 11 months ago - Claire Buckley

Allan, for many women, family AND career is a much better posibility than it was in the 60s through to early 80s. There are better avenues of support than in my day.

However, job prospects are still fragmented. The acting profession in particular is still focussed upon image.

It's not easy to keep that "vibrancy" at the age of 40 having acquired primary school places for your youngsters. There is still a significant amount of work still needed in this sphere. But not from a political direction, but more from the industry itself.

I would not openly call it an "inferior" status, but accept the context in which you use the word. Many women are focussed and dedicated, but life has a habit of moving you in places very different from your place of origin.

Claire