Take Action to Protect Women’s Careers: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Dismantles Sex-Based Acting AWards
Recently, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) voted to terminate single-sex awards categories, effectively dismantling women's opportunities to win career-changing awards.
LAFCA announced that it would introduce “gender neutral” acting categories consisting of “two awards for Best Lead Performance and two awards for Best Supporting Performance,” effectively dismantling the awards category for women, as reported by Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily). A whistleblower shared with Stone that the controversial decision won a 26 to 27 vote in favor of removing award categories for women. The next voting meeting to finalize the decision will be held on December 11, 2022.
Historically, sex-based awards categories for acting have increased the visibility of women on screen, inspiring countless girls and young women to see themselves represented in stories and media, as well as envisioning equal opportunities to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. Removing categories for women is a step backward in addressing Hollywood’s misogynistic culture.
Awards categories for women disproportionately positively influence their careers. This is not the same for men. The films for which men are recognized are more often awarded and earn more money. When an actress is nominated for a film, those are films that have taken a chance. So if actresses no longer have a chance to win, producers will be de-incentivized to write significant, high-visibility roles for women. Writers, producers, and directors who prioritize women will lose a fair shot at career-boosting awards without dedicated award categories.
While much of WoLF’s work focuses on legal argument and policy advocacy, we are dedicated to keeping the public educated and informed about the wide variety of ways in which gender ideology harms women and girls. This example of women’s careers being damaged by “gender neutral” acting awards perfectly illustrates the insidious spread of gender ideology throughout the entertainment industry. Our public education work is wide-ranging; we have educated the public about censorship of radical feminist views in academia, provided the media with guidance about accurately reporting stories related to gender ideology, analyzed how gender ideology has affected narratives about women’s reproductive rights, and identified best practices for ending commercial sexual exploitation.
We invite you to sign our petition and share your opinions with LAFCA:
Our petition calls upon LAFCA to immediately reverse its decision and reinstate sex-based awards categories for acting. Furthermore, we call upon LAFCA leaders to share the full language of this petition and the list of signatories with the entire LAFCA membership.
