Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Cross Post - 13 Myths Hollywood Uses to Hide Discrimination Against Women Directors

Women and Hollywood By Maria Giese | Women and Hollywood October 29, 2013 at 10:00AM

1. The number of women directors is so small because women are not really interested in directing and few women are exceptional enough to do a man's job.
Director Claudia Llosa
Director Claudia Llosa


Right, so 3,500 women DGA members pay their union dues just for the hell of it! Believe us--we ARE interested!

2. The ratio of women directors is improving--it's just going to take time.

The ratio hasn't changed significantly since the advent of cinema 100 years ago. How much more time shall we plan on waiting?

3. There are fewer women directors because more men attend film school.

Women make up 50% of the classes in almost every film school in the U.S.

4. Men are better directors because they have more experience.

If experience were everything, no young men would ever enter the profession. Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" was his debut feature. This argument diminishes the notion that some people are simply gifted in certain areas.

5. It's okay for women to direct small, independent femme-themed films, but men can handle all genres. And women certainly can't be trusted with big budget features or episodic television, even if they are female driven stories.

Women can too! It's risible and hypocritical that almost all female driven stories are directed by men.

6. It's okay to say "We don't hire women on this show" (we hear it all the time), but it's not okay to say "We don't hire African Americans/Asians/Latinos, etc... on this show."

Just think about that for a minute...

7. Women studio executives are helping hire more women film and television directors.

There are more women studio executives today than ever, but fewer women directors. Sony's Amy Pascal could only conjure up the name of ONE women director when asked recently, and even remembering Kathryn Bigelow seemed to require some strained mental effort.

8. The Director's Guild of America really wants to help increase employment opportunities for its women members.

That's why the ratio of male to female directors has remained in stasis for over two decades. The DGA is the organization charged with oversight of studio compliance of studio agreements to hire more women in accordance with U.S. civil rights laws.

9. In America, we protect freedom of speech--women can speak out about discrimination in the film & TV industry without FEAR of reprisals.

The #1 reason women do not speak out about discrimination in Hollywood is that they are afraid of getting BLACKLISTED.

10. America has a higher ratio of women directors than other nations around the world.

Almost all other countries in the world honor women directors more than the United States of America.

11. Women directors are not successful because they don't know how to get organized.

That sometimes seems true. But women did manage to get the right to vote in America after several hundred years of fighting for suffrage.

12. Hollywood has lots of wonderful diversity programs that help women break in to directing.

Not true. And over 20 years of failed Guild diversity programs have resulted in NO CHANGE in the ratios of women directors.

13. Women directors succeed or fail based on merit and their films will get good reviews and big budgets for marketing & distribution if their films are good.

Not true. Recent studies prove that since 80% of film critics are males, reviews of women's films are disproportionately harsh. Women's features suffer from disproportionately low P&A budgets, and on average, open on many fewer screens.


Maria Giese is an American feature film director, a member of the Directors Guild of America, and an activist for parity for women directors in Hollywood. Giese was a creator/organizer of the 2013 DGA Women of Action Summit. More info here

Republished with permission.

This article is related to: Women Directors, Cross Post, Statistics

E-Mail Updates