Upset about the number of films that don’t score highly on so-called “gender equality”? Then boycott them, says the Women’s Media Summit, a group of 100 leaders in different industries.
According to Deadline, the group recently released a plan of action for “eliminating gender inequity in U.S. entertainment media,” outlining a strategy to “boycott films that score poorly on gender equity.”
“Women hold only 3% of above-the-line and greenlighting positions in the media industry and are vastly underrepresented as protagonists and lead characters in film and television,” reads the white paper. “Women hold only 17% of influential positions behind-the-scenes as directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers. This means that four out of five influential positions creating Hollywood blockbusters are held by men.”
The paper also laid out the following seven strategies to fight the alleged gender gap:
- Litigation against gender discriminatory practices;
- Lobbying policymakers at the federal level to address persistent gender discrimination in entertainment media;
- Tax credits to encourage the hiring of more female filmmakers;
- Development of a financing network for female filmmakers (Media Incubator and Marketplace);
- Development of a promotion fund to advertise films made by women (FundHer);
- Marketing to educate the public about the issue of gender discrimination in Hollywood; and
- A consumer campaign to encourage viewers to vote with their dollars for gender equity in Hollywood.
“The first two action plans use government leverage to reform the media industry by compelling better oversight and possibly, incentives, from the judicial, executive, and legislative branches,” the paper continues. “The next three action plans use financial leverage to increase the number of female content producers. The last two action plans leverage the public to reform the industry through increased awareness of the problem and getting viewers to pressure the industry to hire and feature more women through consumer activism.”
The summit also created two new programs: Women’s Media Action Coalition, tasked with implementing the seven strategies, and GradeMyMovie.com, a site for SJWs to grade movies based on their gender equality. They hope to have a steady army of two million activists that will “boycott films that score poorly on gender equity” and “encourage viewers to vote with their dollars for gender equity.”
“One of the goals is to draft model legislation to offer tax incentives to production companies that hire women above and below the line, and within five years, to pass legislation for a female filmmaker tax credit in at least 10 states,” reports Deadline. “Illinois already has established tax credits for racial and gender diversity in hiring, and New York and California are considering similar legislation.”
More ridiculously, the group also seeks to have a labeling system on movies akin to the “No animals were harmed in the making of this film” we see during the end credits.
“A lot of smart people have been working on gender injustice in entertainment media for decades, but progress has been slow and stagnant in recent years,” said Caroline Heldman, co-author of the document and an associate professor of politics at Occidental College. “This white paper provides the blueprint for a new national movement to demand an equal seat at the table for women in entertainment media.”
Director Maria Giese, who co-authored the paper, said: “Hollywood has kept women filmmakers shut out for decades because it is allowed to self-regulate and faces no effective oversight body. Now is the time to stop relying on inside-industry solutions and demand the opportunity for equal participation in our nation’s cultural narrative.”
Producer Christine Walker said: “Efforts are already underway to run a concerted campaign using litigation, legislation, and consumer activism to pressure the industry to do the right thing by hiring more women behind the scenes and featuring more and better female characters in film, television and streaming media.”