The wedding itself represents a life-long commitment to loving your spouse. But, things don’t go as planned and this commitment is cut short by divorce. If the cliché saying “over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce” were true, what makes marriage such a seductive plan? Continue reading
DENVER – The last several weeks have been hectic to say the very least, both globally and domestically within our own US borders.
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While diets have always been a priority, the age old New Year’s Resolution is now trending towards a lifestyle change rather than solely a health investment. Time after time, some have experimented with low-carb or low-fat to attain the thin and toned features, however oftentimes they are not well sustained. The vegan lifestyle has many factors that encourage people to maintain their dedication to eliminating their consumption of meat and animal products.
Since the late 60s, attention to professional sports and college mascots that are offensive to Native Americans has been building. Despite this attention and in some cases, change that follows— for example Seattle University changing their mascot from the Chieftains to the Redhawks in 2000— many people chalk up the issue to over-sensitivity and excessive political correctness.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion polled people three times over the course of 22 years asking them if the Washington Redskins should change its team name because it is offensive to native American Indians. In 1992, 89% of people said that the name was not intended to be offensive and should not be changed. In 2013, 79% of people said it should not be changed and in 2014 83% of people said it should not be changed.
The coronavirus pandemic includes 190,000 confirmed cases worldwide, a number that is only expected to grow. With the spread of the virus most concentrated currently in locations throughout Europe, many universities are choosing to cancel upcoming study abroad programs, and to send students currently abroad home.
After Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast of the United States in 2005, recovery was on the forefront of everyone’s mind in New Orleans. With widespread destruction and an ample amount of flooding, the city of New Orleans as well as the entire Gulf Coast was in disarray for many years following the hurricane. However, when one thinks of Hurricane Katrina now, they probably think of the feel-good recovery stories.
This was even seen in past outbreaks, such as the Zika, Ebola, and MERS infectious disease outbreaks. It is through these other phenomenons that “government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have started to use social media to inform the public of emerging infectious diseases,” according to an article in Health Communication journal.
This can be seen in the case of MERS–a viral respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus–when it was found in the Middle East in 2015. The Health Communication journal discovered that the public sought out information on the disease via social media “because the government withheld necessary information.” Continue reading
In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he sets a framework of what every person needs to survive. The bottom level, the most basic and desperate needs of humanity, includes food, water, warmth, rest, and shelter. The lack of any of these is the lack of a human necessity. When food insecure Americans lack the ability to get nutritious meals, we rally around food drives and donate to hunger ending campaigns. However, the lack of shelter is treated much differently in the United States. Housing is absolutely vital to human survival, but often, the lack of it is treated as an intrinsic flaw, the fault of those who suffer from it. In Denver, homelessness is on the rise.
As of January 2019, Colorado had an estimated 9,619 people experiencing homelessness on a given day, many of which are concentrated in Denver, the largest metropolitan area in the state. The causes are complex, but experts agree that poverty is the largest cause of homelessness. That said, social factors like substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental illness have a huge impact as well. And poverty itself is a complicated interplay of education, joblessness or underemployment, and local housing costs.
By Sophie Smrcka
As you exit a dining hall, an academic building, a dorm, or the library on the University of Denver campus, you will see a compost bin. They are most often right next to the trash and recycling, clearly marked, and have a sign describing what should be disposed of in which receptacle. However, most of the time your napkin and food can be composted but your box for the food cannot be, the cup can be composted but the straw cannot. How many young college students are dedicated to actually separating their compost?
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Just hundreds of feet away from two freshman dormitories on the University of Denver campus lies a transit method that has the ability to bring students almost anywhere in Denver, for free. However, almost no students take this opportunity to travel around the city, why?
The University of Denver provides its students with an unlimited RTD pass that works for both the light rail, busing system, and transit train to the airport.
Theresa Rinker, manager of Market Development for RTD, is responsible for marketing efforts for the company.
“We work with over 11 universities from Colorado to help them provide their students with the opportunity to travel on the light rail. All different types of schools work with us, from DU to the Community College of Denver.”
Antarctica is the southernmost continent on the globe. It is a desolate, uninhabited-besides the penguins, ice-covered mass. Many people are unaware to the extent of climate change in Antarctica.
“The sea levels rising due to global warming will hurt humans in the long run too, as our cities along the coastline will be impacted and our food source like fish will become imbalanced,” Kat Munns, a sophomore at the University of Denver, said.
Over the past week, panic has ensued across the country due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As of March 15, there have been 1,678 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States. There is also reason to believe that this number is far from accurate after Ohio health officials estimated that 100,000 Ohioans have the virus.
Throughout her career, Shari Erickson has worked for “big” agency advertisers, small shops, and has worked to help get a start-up agency established. As we connected on the phone from many miles away, she answered excitedly, eager to share her story and experience with the next generation of creatives and advertisers.
Erickson, now based out of Portland, Oregon, started out of Kansas with a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design.
My FaceTime call connects and Patty’s face greets me with a warm smile. It’s late evening and she is in the middle of filling out documentation for a patient visit she had that day. Patty Sylvia is a medical social worker; she works for Hope Hospice in Bristol, RI, but this hasn’t always been her career.
At 21 years old, Sylvia left for London on her first international flight hoping the modeling agent she was about to meet would like her.
Curiosity, tenacity, and an ability to read and write are the key ingredients to finding success in the news reporting industry, says Mary Ellen Keating. Keating was a news reporter for 10 years after college, gaining experience as a beat reporter and eventually hosting her own talk show and news reporting program.
“You cannot be a great writer without being a good reader” says Keating.
After graduating from Marywood University in 1979 with a degree in communications with a concentration in television news and public relations, Keating knew that she wanted to be on TV.
It was a sunny, bright day in the state of Louisiana and Leah Haile was leaving her job at Lamar Advertising in Baton Rouge early due to LSU competing in the National Championship football game in New Orleans. Around the office, everyone could feel the excitement of the game they had been anticipating all season long looming that night. Before departing, Haile was asked to be on call for the game, which meant she had a small window of time after the game to put up a “creative” on all billboards in New Orleans if LSU won. For Haile, this was the exact moment she realized that the digital advertising field never stops, even beyond her daily in-office demands.
A night out at the newest restaurant in town is a treat for most people. It means forgoing the grueling work of scrubbing sauce stained dishes, instead plates are whisked away once every bite has been taken. Moment’s like these reflect birthdays, celebrations and liberation from the typical day. However for Matt Antonation being surrounded by the excitement of a restaurant environment has him celebrating in a unique way as it can solidify the topic of his next article.
For RJ Sangosti, he was that young boy. From a young age he has been highly dyslexic, where reading and writing has just always been a struggle. But even through experiencing that ‘setback,’ Sangosti soon discovered that visual expression was what he was good at.
“My dad gave me a camera when I was five or six years old. I remember my mom saved up to get my dad this camera, but he then gave it to me because he could see that I was traumatized, and it just became part of my identity,” reminisces Sangosti.
After realizing that photography was something he was good at and made him feel good about himself, Sangosti chose to go through the art program at Colorado State University. It was there that he joined the Collegian, a student run newspaper on campus, and started gaining the experience that would soon lead him to where he is today, working as a photojournalist for the Denver Post.
For any lover of sports, there are many niches within the careers in sports fields that allow any prospective worker to enter depending on their own interests and skills. In the sports communications realm, many of those niches involve things such as working with sports teams, athletes, leagues, athletic venues, and corporate sponsors.
Seth Goodman currently works as an Athletic Communications Coordinator for the DU athletic department, primarily with the women’s basketball team and the ski team as the main communications contact.
When thinking about a career in business, most of us have an image in our heads of an individual who got a college degree, maybe even an MBA, works five days a week and ten hours a day, they’ll have that job the majority of their life, and they will live a comfortable life regardless of their enjoyment of their profession.
Arnold Feld, an 80 year old entrepreneur, didn’t go to college, didn’t work a single job for more than a decade, and never gave up. Most impressively, Feld refused to allow his creativity and passions to be squandered throughout both his life and his career, molding him into who he is today.
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The cramped, brick-lined office of Dr. Rachael Liberman is somewhat unimpressive. On one wall is a small whiteboard with ideas for research scrawled in bright marker. On another hangs a bulletin board with several fliers advertising a slew of events for DU’s Media Film and Journalism studies school and another few scraps of paper proclaiming the merits of feminism and sexual liberation. And at the center of it all sits the modest but very neat desk where Dr. Liberman works.
Here, sitting at this neat desk in a small room in an unimposing stone building at the edge of DU’s campus, Rachael Liberman tries to change students’ lives.
By Sophie Smrcka
Seated in a spinning arm chair, surrounded by the papers and pens strewn across her L shaped desk, Jeannene Bragg sat in her office typing quickly on her computer to finish a few things up. On her walls were social justice posters and calendars filled to the brim with important dates— all in fun colors though.
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The journalism profession is a rollercoaster of gathering, assessing, creating and presenting information to the public, according to the American Press Institute. Kareem El Damanhoury, who has had more than ten years of media experience in the US and Arab world, can attest to the variety of trials and tribulations that may be thrown at a journalist.
“The main event that got me into journalism was in 2006 when a ferry sank killing about 1,000 people, and seeing how the African nations and media were focusing on soccer and not covering the people who had drowned,” El Damanhoury said in a small white brick office room in the MFJS building.
DENVER—The crowd of 4,000 people roared as Senator Elizabeth Warren and ran onto the Fillmore Theater stage, holding Colorado Senator Julie Gonzalez’s hand. Behind her, signs of support are held, exclaiming “Dream Big, Fight Hard”, and “Colorado For Warren”. What will happen after she speaks to Denver on this Sunday evening?
With the crowd roaring and signs waving in the air, the rally commenced. There was a dominating presence of young adults waiting patiently to hear their hopeful future President elect shed some light on the nation’s biggest challenges.
The sun was beaming and the vibes were very positive on February 23, 2020, at Elizabeth Warrens rally in Denver. Yet the Elizabeth Warren campaign drastically under anticipated how many supporters would come to the Fillmore Audition in Denver for her speech. At 2:15 the doors of the Fillmore were closed to the public after reaching full capacity. The venue typically reaches capacity at 3,900 but allowed an extra 100 people into the speech.
DU students trudge into their 8 am film criticism lecture after another frigid walk to class on Wednesday, February 19th. After a long haul across campus and through the neighborhood of Gaylord St., it’s clear that no one enthusiastic about the long lecture that lies ahead. But, in typical Carol fashion, professor Jimenez manages to get everyone’s brains stimulated from in depth discussions about film.
“Is Todd Haynes an auteur?” Jimenez opens up the subjective question to the class.
DENVER – What started as a grey, snowy morning slowly turned into a beautiful, warm Denver winter day. As the sun came out, so did the Elizabeth Warren supporters. As the crowds gathered, the 4,000 person intimate Fillmore Auditorium quickly filled up and became packed straight to the back. Unable to fit all of her supporters into this venue, Warren came outside of the auditorium to thank everyone for coming out, apologizing for not being able to fit everyone inside.
“I’ve got bad news, and I’ve got good news,” said Warren greeting the overflow outside of the auditorium, “the bad news is there’s no more room inside, the good news is there’s no more room inside!”
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DENVER — A bright and sunny day just two weeks before Colorado’s Super Tuesday presidential primary, made for perfect timing for Elizabeth Warren’s stop in Denver, Colorado. On Sunday, Feb. 23, Warren held a campaign rally at the Fillmore Auditorium and shared her plans to make “big, structural change” in the Washington.
Warren is a U.S. senator from Massachusetts running for election in the Democratic party. In votes held so far in three states, Warren has consistently placed third or fourth. However, she seemed determined that this would change through her messages of strength and solidarity.
“I’m not a lifelong politician, but I’ll tell you what I am, I’m a lifelong fighter,” Warren added.
DENVER– A dimly lit room gave artist Linda Connor the ability to shine bright with her bubbly personality and enthusiasm for discovering the world through a new lens, camera lenses that is. She presented her work to a small audience of art enthusiasts on Feb. 19.
Although the term ‘women in business’ may sound like its essence and that the opportunities surrounding it exclusively cater to women, DU’s Women in Business club (WiB) makes it known that they offer much more than just that.
The WiB board consists of president Amanda Martinez, vice president Milena Rogers, communications chair Sophia Mellsop, and events coordinator Sydney Romano, all of whom were present at a meeting on February 19.
After a screening of “Golda” across the hall in the Elaine Wolf Theatre, directors of the film, Udi Nir and Sagi Bornstein, took the stage in the community room at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center in Denver Tuesday evening. Nir and Bornstein had just flown in from Tel-Aviv and sat before a modest yet engaged crowd of older folks who were eager to learn more about the making of “Golda.”
Three law professors hosted a panel discussion about cases being reviewed by the Supreme Court on February 13 at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Clay Calvert, Derigan Silver, and Alan Chen were the three panelist members.
In Silver’s announcement of the panel, he described it as, “a panel discussion with Prof. Clay Calvert, Prof. Alan Chen, and myself. We will be discussing the Supreme Court’s First Amendment cases from 2019 and those it will be hearing in 2020. I think you’ll enjoy hearing from Profs. Chen and Calvert.”
The panel specifically focused on media law cases within the past several years. The professors discussed the outcomes of various trials and inserted their professional opinion and viewpoint on the case rulings.
“As we advance in technology development, the cases that the Supreme Court hears become precedents for future cases regarding different media platforms. The past few years especially have seen some interesting cases involving Twitter” said Chen.
DENVER- The Colorado Convention center was full of enthusiasm on Sunday, Feb. 16, as Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders encouraged a crowd of 11,000 to vote for honesty and integrity and vote to defeat Donald Trump.
Aurora’s Crowne Plaza Denver Airport Convention Center was buzzing with excitement as former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg took the stage Saturday.
The crowd of an estimated 8,500 cheered wildly as Buttigieg took the stage following the Nevada caucuses where the presidential candidate took third place behind Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Buttigieg leaned heavily on his position as a moderate in an election full of political extremes, differentiating himself from Senator Bernie Sanders’ more socialist stances and heavily criticizing President Donald Trump.
“Aren’t you ready to put those tweets behind us?” Buttigieg asked the cheering crowd.
By Sophie Smrcka
It was a cold Thursday afternoon, and people started to pour in the door for the lecture given by Dr. Gregory Robbins. Chatting, and taking off large winter jackets, professors and students alike began to pick out their seats and head to the back of the room to get coffee and snacks. Folks began to surround Robbins and say “congratulations,” for his being promoted to full time professor, the purpose for his lecture.
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The science behind climate change isn’t just in the effects it has on the environment, but the effects it has on individual human health. This is the concept Jay Lemery MD, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, focused on during his presentation held at the University of Denver’s Anderson Academic Commons on February 13.
Lemery’s lecture focused around creating a discussion that was centered around facts about climate change and how as humans we should be worried about our health along with worrying about the environment. He addressed the crowd of about 30 people with a slideshow that included pictures, quotes, graphs, and other background information. The audience was very attentive to his presentation, even as they sat eating the variety of free food that was provided.
He first gave background on himself so the audience knew he was a credible source on the topic; he did so by describing the courses he teaches such as wilderness medicine, polar medicines, global health advanced first aid, and Mars dessert medicine. In addition he has written books such as “Global Climate Change and Human Health” as well as “Enviromedics.”
A wave of families and mostly men surrounded the Colorado Convention Center on Sun., Feb. 16 for a rally in support of Vermont senator and Democratic nominee for the presidential election, Bernie Sanders.
A line wrapped around the venue, as people waited in the cold for three hours in order to be right in front of Sanders himself. The event attracted thousands of people, as Colorado’s primary is less than three weeks away on March 3.
February 9, 2020 – DENVER. As the lights dimmed and the crowd silenced, Thomasluke Florez-Mansi of Sante Fe, New Mexico, walked on stage for his junior recital at the Lamont School of Music. Greeted by a warm applause, Florez-Mansi stood under the spotlight in front of a beautiful black grand piano dressed in a clean black suit with a black bowtie.
Upon walking into the Hamilton Recital Hall, you see a cozy room, filled with the color red and honey brown wood. It is a small room, filled with people conversing, excited for the show to begin. A piano takes center stage, ready to spread the room with its melodies.
The audience sat with anticipation, chatting amongst themselves as images of renowned artist Corin Hewitt appeared on the screen. As Hewitt made his way out on the stage, the students and other guests attentions quickly snapped from their own conversations to his presence.
On, January 29 from 6-7:30 pm, the Vicki Myhren Gallery at the University of Denver hosted artist Corin Hewitt for a guest presentation on his art through his career.
Concert-goers flooded into the Newman Center for Preforming Arts doors, shaking storm worn boots on the dampened matts. Young and old, the show garnered an eclectic crowd, a mix of veteran musicians and aspiring Lamont School of Music students, nestle into the warmth of the recital hall seats. There was low hum of conversation as the audience eagerly awaited the start of the performance, with one audience member finishing a game of chess in expectancy. Continue reading
Bundled crowds shuffle into the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver Sunday to catch the matinee of Peter Pan performed by Colorado Ballet. They are eager to escape the grey and snowy February day, opting for a classic story ballet— one of Colorado Ballet’s five shows of the 2019-20 season.
Each attendee has been given a plastic light wand upon entering the theater and impatient children fiddle with the power switch now, turning them on and off again, as they squirm in their red velvet seats.
The Denver Pioneers Women’s Lacrosse, ranked 10th in preseason polls, began another dynamic season with a 17-13 win over the Stanford Cardinals at home on Saturday, Feb. 8. Even with the piles of snow surrounding the field, the Pioneers turned up the heat to bring Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium its first win of the season.
It was a Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. in Lindsay Auditorium, and dedicated students were ready to watch a show come to life before their eyes. A packed auditorium of students eagerly chatted with their friends, awaiting their favorite de-stressing activity after a long day at the University of Denver. When Skintight Outrage, DU’s improv comedy team, ran out onto the stage, excited students cheered for the actors they have come to know and love week-to-week.
The Denver Pioneers beat the Stanford Cardinals on February 8 by a final score of 17-13. The game was youth day, where the team honored young aspiring lacrosse players. Despite the relatively close score, the Pios were the clear winner of the game, completely dominating the field.
Sunny and 45 degrees made for optimal conditions for the team and fans. The stadium was filled with enthusiastic fans cheering on both the Pioneers and the Cardinals.
Players families and friends made up the Denver fan base, wearing their crimson and gold colors to show their support. Despite being an out of state team, the Cardinals had a strong turnout of fans to watch the game.
By: Sophie Smrcka
People rushed into the theatre, exhaling cold air and wiping their feet, as the snow began to come down outside. They shivered and accepted their tickets, drank glasses of wine, and settled down into their seats as the lights dimmed for the beginning of The Secretary.
In the final days of 2019, a large number of pneumonia cases were detected in Wuhan China. Little did Wuhan Municipal Health know that this was the start of another world outbreak that would spread like wildfire. January 7ththe Chinese authorities confirmed they have identified the virus as a novel coronavirus also known as COVID-19.
COVID-19 is swarming the globe. On March 26, 2020 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised the threat level of the spreading virus and named it a pandemic. The spread of this virus raises fear and panic around the world and poses a serious public health risk. With over one million casesin the world and the 275,000 reportedin the United States, the health crisis is not all people are worried about.
Millions of Americans have been told to stop moving. In over40 states, local and state directives have ordered “shelter in place” or “stay at home” initiatives in order to stop or slow the spread of the virus. This changes how everyone goes about their daily lives and normal interactions. These initiatives include work, school, religious events, and even going to the store.
This new quarantine has especially been taking a toll on those whose social lives drive their everyday interactions. This includes a majority of students in college who have been sent home. Sophomore student Chandler Maizel at the University of Denver has been struggling with leaving her new home at school for her parents home.
“Quarantine sucks. It’s a big change to be home with my parents in a smaller space since they downsized when I left for college. Being isolated doesn’t scare me but it is scary to see other people that are being gravely affected by the disease. College was a home and it broke my heart when we left but it took me until online classes started to truly feel how big the change was. COVID-19 is an very scary virus and I wish people would listen to the stay at home orders,” says Maizel.
Junior student Katie Isler at the University of Vermont can attest to. Maizel’s statement.
“I did feel like college was home, it feels weird being back in the house I grew up in, back to old rules and nothing to do. It feels like I am in middle school again. I should have taken more advantage of the time I had at school,” explains Isler.
Isolation seems crippling. Jussi Tanskanen studies the simultaneous effects of social isolation and loneliness on mortality. The results showed that social isolation predicted and increase in the risk of heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression, and even mortality. In conclusion Tanskanen reveals the strong evidence for social isolation and loneliness having a pathway to mortality and health.
Bella Pisano, a recent college graduate now working from home, can attest to the affects Tanskanen mentions in her research.
“Other than feeling tired, breaking out, and feeling less motivated, it’s almost like I have phantom symptoms,” explains Pisano. “I know I’m not sick but I feel sick. I stay inside every day and move from couch to chair to bed isolated.”
William Hammit, in his study on the psychology and functions of wilderness solitude, explains an opposite idea as Tanskanen. Hammit touches on wilderness isolation and privacy. Looking at the dimensions that would be similar, in the case of individual cognitive freedom and social cognitive freedom, intimacy, emotional release, and reflective thought and self-evaluation led those to inhibit individual freedom of choice, tranquility, and peace of mind.
While Hammit found this research in the wilderness, the results of isolation has not been the same for the college students now home. Maizel explains that the social isolation has ruined the alone time she used to have to spend with herself, relax and take a break.
“Being alone while knowing I’m in isolation makes it less appealing,” claims Maizel. “Before this the time I would make for myself felt like self-care and being able to section out that time for myself was for my mental health. Now because I have so much of that time without having to make it, it feels less relaxing and almost more stress inducing.”
At first it wasn’t being taken seriously. Since the virus had not seriously affected the
United States it wasn’t taking a toll however now the mindsets are changing Isler explains.
“I thought this was kind of a joke at first, leaving school and getting an extra week of spring break but it turned out to be a life altering event,” explains Isler.
While this is daunting and isolating, COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere. In order to flatten the curve, social distancing and stay at home orders will stay in place. Restaurants, bars, clubs, and event spaces will close. However, these measures, which have been proven effective in countries such as China and South Korea, will make a lasting impact in the future.
However, others feel as if their whole life plans have been put on hold or ruined due to the stay at home order, online classes, and looming post-graduation jobs. Junior athletic training major at the University of Alabama Patricia Smith feels as if she doesn’t know what to do next.
“I’m scared for my future,” exclaims Smith. “I worked so hard for three years to get into the NFL and now that I’ve done it, there’s a high chance it will get taken away from me. If I don’t complete this internship my entire plan for my future is going to be ruined. It’s scary that something that you’ve been told to plan for since elementary can be ruined in a matter of a month.”
Sexual assault is defined by womenshealth.org as “any kind of unwanted sexual activity, from touching to rape.”
It’s a topic that is often talked about but never reported. According to RAINN sexual assault, when it comes to sexual assault on and around college campuses, only 20% are reported. In 2018, DU only reported 6 on campus rapes.
The last days approaching finals week at the University of Denver, are a little different this quarter. What’s usually a library filled to the brim and not a single unreserved study room, the campus is now blanketed with an eerie emptiness. Thousands of kids are now cramming for their cumulative tests from their hometown.
There’s no excitement surrounding the festivities of Spring Break next week. Instead kids are fleeing home to be with loved ones to quarantine themselves in a familiar place, leaving DU seemily uninhabited: a ghost town. DU student Mia Winans also thinks campus feels different.
“The library is empty which is super weird for finals and there’s nothing going on socially. Morale is low.”
In recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in deaths resulting from opioid abuse. This includes opioids overall, as fentanyl overdose deaths continue to rise.
If the last five years in Hollywood have the public anything, it’s that its run by men. The 2017 Times Up movement and rebirth of the 2006 Me Too movement shed light on the dark, unjust, and unequal side of the glamorously painted Hollywood we see in the media. Mainstream Hollywood cinema tends to regurgitate dominant societal stereotypes regarding gender and sex through plots, characters, portrayals of individuals. What we see on-screen reflects the society around us; the inequality and sexism women face in everyday life are very much is mirrored in films.
The most common role for female characters to play is the male protagonists’ love interest. Women are used as supports for the heroic male but are rarely portrayed as the hero themselves. Before the movie Moana in 2016, every Disney princess had some kind of male love interest. This male savior complex can be observed throughout mainstream Hollywood in films dating back to the birth of film making itself. Female characters are more likely to have their marital status known to the audience than male characters are, and are typically cast younger than men. Additionally, female characters’ core values in movies are generally focused on their personal relationships, in contrast to men who are goal-oriented, success, and work orientated. Due to this discrepancy, women are often cast as sexual objects with a lack of real purpose other than the male gaze. This over-sexualization leads to the importance of the character to be overshadowed and diminished by her gender. 2019 was a record-breaking year for women on-screen and off-screen, but the progress has been tedious and minimal. Last year revealed a myriad of inequalities on-screen, where women only accounted for 35% of characters, and men held 65% of speaking roles (LAUZEN2). When a group of people is underrepresented in the media, film, news, it causes a social culture of negativity and negligence to persist.
Sonia Kifferstein, a Junior Executive independent writer for Ron Bass in Los Angeles, said, “I’m both optimistic and frustrated at the potential for advancements women have seen in the film industry. On the one hand, portrayals of women have been vastly improving. We are seeing less stereotyping, rampant objectification (outside of Tarantino films at least), and the opportunity for more substantial roles than girlfriend or mother. Still, ageism and rigid beauty standards are hard to win out against unless you’re a legend Meryl Streep or the one female “character actor” the industry will accept per generation: Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson, Beanie Feldman. The term in itself is fraught with issues. That’s before even diving into issues of race and sexuality/gender identity. Still, it’s improving. One of the most significant ways in which I’d say it’s improving may sound counterintuitive – we are letting women be FLAWED. Every development meeting I’d go into they’d say oh… she’s just not likable enough. From Elizabeth Warren to our sitcom leads, we’re still fighting to make women “likable.” Don Draper wasn’t likable, and neither was Walter White – I’d say we’re winning the battle to show 3D women, good, bad and human”.
Gender inequality in the film industry exists in front of and behind the camera. Men dominate positions such as directing, producing, editing, developing, writing, and acting, while women are underrepresented continuously and left out of the creation process. Yet, when cinema first arose at the end of the 18th-century women were involved in film making more than men were. It wasn’t until after World War I when entertainment became a societal norm than men took over the prospering industry. This lack of women causes movies to be created through a single lens; the male perspective. When movies are created solely by men, it inevitably makes for inaccurate and false representations of women on screen.
According to Dr. Martha M. Lauzens study “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2019”; women compromised 13% of directors, 19% of writers, 21% of executive producers, 27% of producers, 23% of editors and 5% of cinematographers on the top-grossing films (LAUZEN3). These numbers have increased over the past decade by 3%, yet the progress is far from where it needs to be equal.
Female students are pursuing film majors at colleges and attending film schools at almost the same rates and numbers of male students. Conversly, the opportunities for female directors, editors, producers are scarce and very hard to come by. The next generation of female filmmakers is feeling the harsh reality of the gender inequalities of employment in Hollywood. Ally Larson a 2019 graduate from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts is just one of many the young hopeful directors struggling as a woman to break into Hollywood film making.
“ Trying to be a director, let alone a female director in Hollywood, is difficult not only for the fact that its a freelance job but because of how exclusive it is. People want to work with established directors and are nervous about having anyone new to the scene, especially a woman work on a major Hollywood production. I have friends who are screenwriters and editors who have a slightly easier time finding jobs, but the opportunities are still slim. I’m hopeful about the future of women behind the scenes, but I also have to be realistic at the same time.
Junior executive Kifferstein who has been in the field for ten years accounted;
“Representation behind the scenes is a little more complicated. Things are improving, but the notion of tokenism still exists. I went to an agency for a meeting the other day, and 90% of the assistants were men, and only about 5% were people of color. This is discouraging. If men are the ones deciding what makes a good story, we aren’t going to get as many female stories as we need. Productions often hire a woman to fill a slot and then don’t really listen to their input. It’s not enough to just be in the room. It’s not a box you can check”.
It’s hard to say what the future of film making looks like for women, but the slow progress is still progress. Since cinema is a reflection of our world and how we view people, there is the likelihood that as women continue to try and break the glass ceiling, we will see more films made by women about real, powerful, heroic women.
Works Cited:
Lauzen, Martha M. “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2019.
Lauzen, Martha M. “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2018.”
Miller, Kara R. (2018) “A Sturdy Glass Ceiling: Representation of Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes of Hollywood’s Top 100 Films Throughout the Years,” The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research: Vol. 8, Article 5.
Nunez, Rocio, Jackson, John, Messaris, Paul, and Pearl, Sharrona. Woman with a Movie Camera: The Dearth of Women Filmmakers in Contemporary Hollywood (2015): ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Web.
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The MFJS Reporter -- Winter 2020 M-W 