Gender Inequality In Hollywood

The wage gap in Hollywood is when actresses are not being paid the same amount of money compared to men for doing the same job. Hollywood is supposed to be about equal opportunities, but with how the industry is run, males are treated better than women in regards to pay. When Forbes Magazine released an annual list of the highest paid actors and actresses of 2017 in August of 2017, there was a 43 million dollar difference between the highest paid actor and actress. In order to solve the issue, more actors should forgo part of their salaries in an effort to raise actresses’ salaries. The topics include different examples of how it effects women in Hollywood not just actors, how male actors are now starting to change how women are being treated

Hollywood became more accepting of actresses in film in the 1920’s, which is when discrimination became prevalent in the industry. There are many accounts of Hollywood actresses who were under contract with big studios who were treated unfairly whether that be emotional and physical abuse or how much they were being paid. Judy Garland, a Hollywood legend, was payed a lot less compared to her male co-stars when making “The Wizard of Oz”. While sexism effects a lot of people in Hollywood, specifically actresses, it also effects people who are behind the scenes; the writers behind shows and movies. In the journal article “Women and Men in Film: Gender Inequality among Writers in a Culture Industry”, the article includes examples of more opportunities men had in front and behind the scenes in Hollywood, “But as her career progresses, the woman writer 's opportunities are limited to a narrow range of genres, whereas her male counterparts have no such limitation” (Bielby). Men had more opportunities to make money compared to women who had to stick to one genre. Diane Keaton, known for “Annie Hall”, spoke about the issue of the unfair wage gap in her novel, Then Again, she discussed how she did not receive a back-end for her film, “Something’s Gotta Give”, while her co-star Jack Nicholson did. Nicholson personally gave Keaton a part of his check when he found out how unfair she was treated. While the wage gap is changing in Hollywood there are still sexist roots that are prevalent in modern day