Male film critics outnumber female critics

[Anonymous]

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/23/film-criticism-gender-study

Last year, Meryl Streep made headlines when she spoke out against gender imbalance in film criticism, telling reporters she personally counted the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and found a huge disparity between the number of male and female writers. Now, a new study from San Diego State University backs Streep up, revealing that a whopping 73 percent of Rotten Tomatoes’ top critics are men.

The university’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film conducted a study earlier this year analyzing 5,776 reviews written by 247 of Rotten Tomatoes’ top critics. (The site designates some writers as “top critics” if they write for a major publication or are generally considered to be influential.) The results of that study, which were released Thursday, found that men drastically outnumber women in film criticism.

[Anonymous]

It is a sad and embarrassing career. Kudos to women for aiming higher.

[Anonymous]

Bet most of them are white too.

[Anonymous]

This is an awesome start to inclusivity in criticism. I have a degree in theatre criticism, and it's true there that (mostly white) men outnumber women. This may be for several compounding reasons:

1. Mens' opinions are taken more seriously than womens'.
2. Men are given more freedom to be outspoken than women are.
3. Women are taught from a young age to apologize for their opinions and to "be nice." Criticism isn't all about being critical, but it can be a part of the gig, and it can be tough.

In school, we had to give presentations on historical criticism. I was the only one asked to defend the position of my chosen critic, simply because she spoke about women's issues in media. (My male colleague who presented on Nietzsche didn't have to defend existentialism, for example.) Women's issues are important topics in film and other media, but women should be able to speak on all forms of entertainment. I'm happy that this may be changing.

[Anonymous]

Film critic Elizabeth Weitzman - daughter of shoe designer Stuart Weitzman

I'm pretty sure that helped.

[Anonymous]

I guess HRC will start having quotas?

[Anonymous]

This is why so many awesome, fantastic films get dumped on by male critics. Movies like the Twilight Saga were not all that bad- certainly a hell of a lot more entertaining than any Avengers movie. But it's all dudes giving their opinions, and they dump on things that are directed at women

[Anonymous]

Ha, I didn't know this, but a certain male perspective was patently clear on Rotten Tomatoes. My husband and I call it the "super hero" discount, because the way all superhero blockbusters are always rated 20 points above where they should be. (And BTW, DH is a massive comics fanboy and between him and our kids, we literally have about three closets of superhero paraphernalia, so if anything, his biases run the other direction.) RT simultaneously is hard on rom-coms - though then again, they do often suck, so maybe the gender skew simply means the reviews of "chick flicks" are realistic but the "action films" just too inflated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha, I didn't know this, but a certain male perspective was patently clear on Rotten Tomatoes. My husband and I call it the "super hero" discount, because the way all superhero blockbusters are always rated 20 points above where they should be. (And BTW, DH is a massive comics fanboy and between him and our kids, we literally have about three closets of superhero paraphernalia, so if anything, his biases run the other direction.) RT simultaneously is hard on rom-coms - though then again, they do often suck, so maybe the gender skew simply means the reviews of "chick flicks" are realistic but the "action films" just too inflated.

+1

It's the same for romance novels, which, when written by women, are almost universally derided. When written by men, are often praised.

It pissed me off that wonderful films like Under the Tuscan Sun and even Pride and Prejudice have really low rankings, because the fanboys aren't interested.

I hate living in this patriarchal world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha, I didn't know this, but a certain male perspective was patently clear on Rotten Tomatoes. My husband and I call it the "super hero" discount, because the way all superhero blockbusters are always rated 20 points above where they should be. (And BTW, DH is a massive comics fanboy and between him and our kids, we literally have about three closets of superhero paraphernalia, so if anything, his biases run the other direction.) RT simultaneously is hard on rom-coms - though then again, they do often suck, so maybe the gender skew simply means the reviews of "chick flicks" are realistic but the "action films" just too inflated.

+1

It's the same for romance novels, which, when written by women, are almost universally derided. When written by men, are often praised.

It pissed me off that wonderful films like Under the Tuscan Sun and even Pride and Prejudice have really low rankings, because the fanboys aren't interested.

I hate living in this patriarchal world.

+1 The upside is that a growing number of people, women and men, can see the truth.