Gender imbalance has been present in movies and TV shows since their creation. For a long time women weren’t given main roles or even roles with dialogue. When women did get speaking roles, they were often there for male gaze and never had character development and substance. Throughout the years, this has changed significantly. Women are at the for-front of a lot of movies and TV-shows. However, respect is still a huge issue, girl-powered movies like Legally Blonde are often labeled as chick flicks, putting down the validity of the movie. There is also a wage gap present for lead men and women actors. 

    A large issue still present in the industry now is a lack of female representation in directing, writing, and creating. Talented female directors are often not given credit and are seen as replaceable. This was evident when the female director of Twilight was replaced after the first movie was successful. Women like Greta Gerwig, director of Ladybird and 2019’s Little Women, have started to prove that they are just as talented as their male counterparts when they are given the opportunity to show off what they can do. At the Oscars in 2021, Nomad Land director Chloe Zhao won best director, becoming the second woman to win and first Asian-American director to win. 

    The body ideals and beauty standards in Hollywood have also negatively impacted women in the industry. Since the introduction of the “Hollywood starlets” women in Hollywood have been seen as beauty standards for women everywhere. We can see this with the transition from Marilyn Monroe to Audrey Hepburn. Monroe’s figure made women aspire to be her but as Hepburn got popular, people instead wanted to look like her showing that trends can change and the beauty standards on screen impact this change. When casting for movies there is also “pretty privilege”. The people who are objectively pretty are believed to bring in more revenue. Often times, studios don’t want someone with a larger body type on screen because they believe they wouldn’t bring the attention someone else might. This causes only a certain type of body, often appearing unattainable, being viewed as better. This gives people, specifically girls, the mentality that they aren’t as good as the girls in the movies and that they aren’t worth as much. 

    These imbalances and unfair standards for women make it more difficult for them to succeed in Hollywood. Some people believe that these are old issues, however they still exist and are impacting how people see other women and themselves on screen.