Abstract
This chapter addresses a persistent excuse given for women’s differing success in screenwriting—that they write differently, or about different subjects to men. Despite copious evidence to the contrary, these myths are upheld in the talk of film workers, without much recourse to what women are expected and commissioned to write. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s work on taste, this chapter dismantles this entrenched view of women’s screenwriting. After demonstrating the clear significance of the ‘taste’ for employers, it unpacks how women’s taste as constructed and embodied is used to criticize and even blame women screenwriters for their lack of success. When women screenwriters have success, it is frequently ignored or written off as anomaly, and women are seen as successful only when they write films for men.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aldrich, Robert. 1967. Director: The Dirty Dozen. Screenwriters: Nunnally Johnson, Lukas Heller and E.M. Nathanson (novel). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
American Film Institute Archives. 2002. Nora Ephron’s favourite scene in sleepless in Seattle. Cheideo.com. https://www.chideo.com/chideo/afinora-ephron-favorite-sleepless-in-seattle-scene. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. 2001. Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science 12 (5): 353–359.
Asante, Amma. 2013. Director: Belle. Screenwriter: Misan Sagay. British Film Institute.
Bailey, Ryan. 2015. Remember BBC’s Italia 90 opening credits? Here’s the incredible story behind them. The 42. http://www.the42.ie/italia-90-bbc-opening-credits-philip-bernie-2140805-Jun2015/. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Barnes, Brooks. 2013. Save my blockbuster! New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/28/movies/BLOCKBUSTER.html. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Berger, Laura. 2015. BBC lists top American films of all time; only 3 female directors make the cut. Indiewire. http://www.indiewire.com/2015/07/bbc-lists-top-100-american-films-of-all-time-only-3-female-directors-make-the-cut-203082/. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Bielby, Denise D., and William T. Bielby. 2002. Hollywood dreams, harsh realities: Writing for film and television. Contexts 1 (4): 21–27.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.
Choueiti, Marc, Stacy L. Smith, Katherine Pieper and Ariana Case. 2018. Critic’s choice? Gender and race/ethnicity of film reviewers across 100 top films of 2017. USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/cricits-choice-2018.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2018.
Christopherson, Susan. 2009. Working in the creative economy: Risk, adaptation, and the persistence of exclusionary networks. In Creative labour: Working in the creative industries, ed. Alan McKinlay and Chris Smith, 72–90. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Cobb, Shelley, Linda Ruth Williams, and Natalie Wreyford. 2018. Calling the Shots: Women directors and cinematographers on British Films since 2003. https://s25407.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Calling-the-Shots-Report-Feb-2018-Women-directors-and-cinematographers.pdf. Accessed 26 Mar 2018.
Creative Skillset. 2012. Employment census of the creative media industries. http://creativeskillset.org/assets/0000/5070/2012_Employment_Census_of_the_Creative_Media_Industries.pdf. Accessed 24 Apr 2018.
Daily Mail Reporter. 2014. “Empire Strikes Back is number one film: Star Wars beats The Godfather to be named greatest movie of all time. The Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2643379/Empire-Strikes-Back-number-one-film-Star-Wars-beats-The-Godfather-named-greatest-movie-time.html. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
de Beauvoir, Simone. 1949. The second sex. New York: HM Parshley.
Deiseroth, Sarah. 2014. Chick flicks don’t have to suck. Women in Comedy. https://sarahdeiseroth.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/its-womans-world/. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
del Toro, Guillermo. 2015. Director: Crimson Peak. Screenwriters: Giullermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins and Lucinda Coxon (uncredited). Double Dare You.
Elias, Ana Sofia, Rosalind Gill, and Christina Scharff, eds. 2017. Aesthetic labour: Rethinking beauty politics in neoliberalism. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ephron, Nora. 1993. Director: Sleepless in Seattle. Screenwriters: Nora Ephron, David S. Ward and Jeff Arch. Columbia Tristar.
Feig, Paul. 2011. Director: Bridesmaids. Screenwriters: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo. Universal Pictures.
Fletcher, Anne. 2008. Director 27 Dresses. Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna. Fox 2000 Pictures.
Francke, Lizzie. 1994. Script girls: Women screenwriters in Hollywood. London: British Film Institute.
Frascella, Lawrence. 2012. On the front lines with Nora Ephron. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/on-the-front-lines-with-nora-ephron-20120626. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Friedan, Betty. 1963. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell.
Furness, Hannah. 2012. BIC ridiculed over ‘comfortable’ pink pens for women. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9503359/BIC-ridiculed-over-comfortable-pink-pens-for-women.html. Accessed 19 Apr 2018.
Gavron, Sarah. 2015. Director: Suffragette. Screenwriter: Abi Morgan. Pathé.
Gill, Rosalind. 2007a. Gender and the media. Cambridge: Polity Press.
———. 2007b. Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility. European Journal of Cultural Studies 10 (2): 147–166.
Hancock, John Lee. 2013. Director: Saving Mr Banks. Screenwriters: Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Walt Disney Pictures.
Hesmondhalgh, D., and S. Baker. 2015. Sex, gender and work segregation in the cultural industries. The Sociological Review 63 (1_suppl): 23–36.
Irigaray, Luce. 1985. This sex which is not one. New York: Cornell University Press.
Jackson, Peter. 2001. Director: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Screenwriters: J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema.
Jenkins, Patty. 2017. Director: Wonder Woman. Screenwriters: Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs, William Moulton Marston (Wonder Woman created by) and Harry G. Peter (Wonder Woman created by). Warner Brothers.
Kershner, Irvin. 1980. Director: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. Screenwriters: Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas (story by). Twentieth Century Fox.
Lauzen, Martha M. 2013. Gender @ the movies: On-line film critics and criticism. San Diego State University Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2013_Gender_at_the_Movies_Exec_Summ.pdf. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Lawler, Steph. 2004. Rules of engagement: Habitus, power and resistance. The Sociological Review 52 (s2): 110–128.
Mangold, James. 1999. Director: Girl, Interrupted. Screenwriters: Susanna Kaysen (book), James Mangold, Lisa Loomer and Anna Hamilton Phelan. Columbia Pictures.
Marcel, Kelly, and Craig Silverstein. 2011. Creators: Terra Nova. 20th Century Fox Television.
McCarey, Leo. 1957. Director: An Affair to Remember. Screenwriters: Delmer Daves, Leo McCarey, Mildred Cram (story) and Donald Ogden Stewart. Twentieth Century Fox.
McClintock, Pamela. 2012. Box office shocker: Hunger Games third-best opening weekend of all time. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-hunger-games-jennifer-lawrence-josh-hutcherson-liam-hemsworth-twilight-304028. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
McCreadie, Marsha. 2006. Women screenwriters today: Their lives and words. Connecticut: Praeger Publishing.
Melfi, Theodore. 2016. Director: Hidden Figures. Screenplay: Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi and Margot Lee Shetterly (based on the book by). Fox 2000 Pictures.
Miller, George. 2015. Director: Mad Max: Fury Road. Screenwriters: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris, George Miller (uncredited), Byron Kennedy (uncredited) and Kelly Marcel (uncredited). Warner Brothers Pictures.
Moi, Toril. 1991. Appropriating Bourdieu: Feminist theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of culture. New Literary History 22 (4): 1017–1049.
O’Mara, Eileen. 2014. How can we better tackle the gender imbalance in technology careers? Huffington post. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/eileen-oamara/how-can-we-better-tackle-_b_6179346.html. Accessed 19 Apr 2018.
Oliver, Mark. 2007. Nessun Dorma and Italia 1990 were the greatest. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2007/sep/06/nessundormaan. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Peele, Jordan. 2017. Director: Get Out. Screenwriter: Jordan Peele. Universal Pictures.
Puccini, Giacomo. 1926. Turandot. Librettist: Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Premiere 25th April 1926, Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Ross, Gary. 2012. Director: The Hunger Games. Screenwriters: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray and Suzanne Collins (novel). Lionsgate.
Scherfig, Lone. 2014. Director: The Riot Club. Screenwriter Laura Wade. Film 4.
Seger, Linda. 2003. When women call the shots: The developing power and influence of women in television and film. Lincoln: iUniverse.
Sinclair, Alice, Emma Pollard, and Helen Wolfe. 2006. Scoping study into the lack of women screenwriters in the UK. A report presented to the UK Film Council. UK Film Council. http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-women-screenwriters-scoping-study.pdf. Accessed 26 Mar 2018.
Smith, Stacy L., and Chrystal Allene Cook. 2008. Gender stereotypes: An analysis of popular films and TV. Annenberg School for Communication and The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. https://seejane.org/wpcontent/uploads/GDIGM_Gender_Stereotypes.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2018.
Strauss, Elissa. 2018. Why girls can be boyish but boys can’t be girlish. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/12/health/boys-girls-gender-norms-parenting-strauss/index.html?no-st=1524507332. Accessed 22 Apr 2018.
Vaughan, Matthew. 2010. Director, Kick-Ass. Screenwriters: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn. Lionsgate.
———. 2011. Director, X-Men: First Class. Screenwriters: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Sheldon Turner, Bryan Singer. 20th Century Fox.
Wilkinson, Alissa. 2017. Hollywood’s ideas about audiences are outdated. Wonder Woman’s record-smashing debut proves it. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/5/15739284/wonder-woman-box-office-records-female-director-get-out-hidden-figures. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
Winick, Gary. 2009. Director: Bride Wars. Screenplay: Greg DePaul, Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael. Fox 2000 Pictures.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wreyford, N. (2018). Gendering Taste. In: Gender Inequality in Screenwriting Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95732-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95732-6_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95731-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95732-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)