Women in general tend to earn far less than men. In 2018, it was documented that women earned 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full-and part-time workers in the United States. Based on this estimate, it would take an extra 39 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2018. Women receive 79 cents for every dollar that men earn. This is the natural gender pay gap, which highlights the median salary for all men and women regardless of what occupation they perform. Men aged 25 to 34 earn around $45,604 a year, from ages 35 to 44 they earn $57,824, from 45 to 54 it is $59,176 and lastly from 55 to 64 years they earn $61,932 annually. In fact, women whose age range from 25 to 34 it is $39,676 annually, from the age of 35 to 44 it is $45,552, from 45 to 54 years it is $45,552 and lastly from 55 to 64 years they earn $46,540 annually. This is an ongoing problem that needs to change for the better of our future.
The unfortunate reality is that the gender pay gap occurs across almost all occupations and industries. From the world of education to corporate America, men tend to earn more than women for the same amount of work, and the Hollywood arena is no exception. There is a distinct lack of literature focused exclusively on the wages of those who work in the film industry, particularly true for actors. There was an important milestone in the history of the movie industry. It was called the Golden Age of Hollywood. The establishment of the studio system, American home of movies, the first color movie, the first talking movie and the Oscars and animated cartoon movies. For decades, it was common practice for major film companies to purchase movie theaters. In the late 1940’s the studio system, in which actors signed long-term contracts with studios for steady wages, was abandoned, allowing Hollywood stars to become free agents, whose wages can fluctuate greatly based on their perceived market value. This means they would only show their company’s produced films, so between the increasing independence of actors and the advent of television, the movie studios underwent a slow death during the 1950’s.
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Furthermore, when it comes to massive paydays, Hollywood is still a boy’s club. From Marilyn Monroe to Meryl Streep, Hollywood has long idolized iconic actresses. The industry ladles out awards and promotional adoration. Hollywood seems to love women at times, but when it comes to equality, they do not. The world’s highest paid actress, Jennifer Lawrence is an American actress. She is best known for playing Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ film franchise. She made $25 million in the 12 months to June 2015. That is an impressive number, until it is compared to the $80 million banked by Robert Downey Jr., an American actor, producer, and singer. He is best known for playing many known roles, but mostly as Iron Man with Marvel franchise, the world’s top paid actor.
This is only one example out of many other actresses. Every female actress has echoed the sentiment of Patricia Arquette, an American actress. Patricia is best known as playing a divorced mother in the coming-of-age drama film ‘Boyhood’ (2014). Patricia brought the issue to the world’s attention at last year’s Academy Awards, when she said in her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America”. Patricia Arquette just took her fight for equal pay up a notch. However, it is not only the number on the paycheck, that is the problem. Women are also greatly underrepresented on the big screen, leading to fewer opportunities to make money. Reese Witherspoon brought up at the American Cinematheque Awards in October: “Women make up 50% of the population, and we should be playing 50% of the roles on the screen”. No matter how you analyze it the gender pay gap is real, persistent, and harmful to women's economic security. The Hollywood wage gap on gender and age is a big concern.
In addition, men in Hollywood are able to command high salaries for an appreciable number of years, whereas women in Hollywood tend to be able to command high salaries only in their younger years. The representation of how male and females are shown in Hollywood is not accurate. For example, female Oscar winners tend to be younger and be identified by marital statutes, but not by occupation. Male winners, on the other hand, are older, come from many different occupations, and do not have marital status identified. I believe we should not be judged by our character, but how hard work and determination can get you places. The influence of the media’s gendered representations reaches beyond personal relationships.
Essentially, media representations are often looked as if it is real life; however, that is not the case, as these expectations are different for men and women. Men are praised for exerting their sexual prowess…the same cannot be said for women. Women are not expected to embrace their sexuality and, if they do, they are often chastised. In media if a Women has ‘too many’ sexual partners or is comfortable with her sexuality, she is often referred to in a derogatory manner or hypersexualized-behaviors that mirror how women are treated in reality.
Overall, the gender pay gap still affects most industries, with women in general receiving far less than their male counterparts and Hollywood is no different. By looking at some of our control factors, we can see some of the reasons why female Hollywood stars receive less than their male counterparts. One of the main explained gaps found has to do with what types of film, that which actors and actresses tend to be involved. It is bad enough that women tend to age much faster than men, meaning their careers are short-lived and will eventually stop working at a younger age than their male counterparts. This is the 21st century, with so many improvements, it is hard to believe that this wage gap still exists today. It is very obvious that men and women should be paid the equal amount of money for performing the same job. However, that is not always the case.
What can be done to fix the problem, simple, one of various solutions is that the employers should be required to share their gender gap data with the federal government in order to help hold them accountable. Industries should be able to discuss the wage without being afraid or feeling ashamed. What women can do is negotiate. There once was this billboard that said: ‘You are worth more than you’re asking for’. That itself speaks a lot about society as a whole.
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