How come there aren't more female directors in hollywood?

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It seems like a lot of actors use their fame, knowledge and connections to graduate to the director's seat.

You'd think this would encourage more white female and minority actors to take advantage of the opportunity. Even if it's to set a tone for future generations to run with. But I assume it's still not easy to be given a chance even if you have all the connections in the world.
 
confirmation bias.
girls get told not to play with a screwdriver and go play with barbie, while boys are encouraged to come to daddy and help him fix the car and use the screwdriver a little.
this results in male thinking that they are good in certain tasks, while women try to avoid it because they think they are bad at it.
=> example. on my faculty (engineering) there are not more than a handful of girls. while other faculties have close to zero male students (tourism)

of course this is not the only reason, but i do think that this bias plays quite a big role today.
 
harSon said:
The industry is and has always been dominated by white males. The reason you don't see female directors is the exact same reason minority directors (at least within this country) are underrepresented within Hollywood, they're marginalized.
Yeah, it's only been in the past decade that there's been any significant movement towards letting black directors make anything other than "black" films.
 
Coolio McAwesome said:
There are significant differences between men and women, and certain genders are better suited for certain tasks. The reason you don't see more female directors is the same reason why you don't see more women architects or more women composers or more women computer developers. Men are generally more creative than women are. As such, they are better suited to direct films.

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Articles linked early were good reads. Hollywood is risk-averse, so even though it seems weird to say a female couldn't direct a big budget action film, to a studio exec, it's better to go with a safe choice.
 
Lost in Translation is easily one of my favorite movies, but I've have very limited experience with other female director's work as far as I know.

Although, Somewhere looks pretty bad based on the trailer, I have hope though.
 
Maybe it has to do With the amount of pressure and crap Directors have to put up for. As a man I always ask myself, can Women (in general) handle those pressures with compossion.

sorry if i am offending everyone or if that comes out as sexism but I do wonder.

can someone shine a light on that, please?
 
i think it's a bias that all people are exposed to throughout their lives. For example, there was a study that showed when people take their kids to a museum the parents will explain things more to a son than to a daughter. Parenting behavior tends to mold people into traditional roles, not to mention the fact that young women have very few role models when it comes to this sort of thing, it is a self fulfilling prophecy. To say that genetics is responsible for this level of disparity is some early 20th-century level bullshit.
 
It's absolutely sexism. Considering the massive disparity, I'm surprised anyone would argue anything else. Remember that film directors are both high profile creatives and workplace managers, two areas where women are consistently discriminated against.

Also, even though Coolio is banned, his whole 'women aren't inclined to be creative' theory is blown to shit by the manga industry.
 
kame-sennin said:
Also, even though Coolio is banned, his whole 'women aren't inclined to be creative' theory is blown to shit by the manga industry.

Common sense historical perspective blows it to shit before anything else is required to.
 
Staccat0 said:
This is awful to say, but a big part of directing involves being somewhat egomaniacal... maybe this is a male trait more often than not?

I know a girl who has a very promising career in film, but has no interest in directing. Says she finds being an AD more fulfilling. She is going places, but has no ambition to direct. I think ADs and PAs are women more frequently than other roles on a set. I'm not sure why that would be...

EDIT: Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I have the career path correct. Is the AD usually an aspiring Director on a major feature?
Even though they're called an "Assistant Director" their job really has nothing to do with what an actual Director does. The ADs are tasked with keeping the crew in check and on schedule, among other things. They do often interface one on one with the director, but their role is more managerial and less creative. ADs are often some of the more hated people on sets because they have to be strict and get people off their ass. The best ADs manage to do their job without ticking everyone off.
 
the only thing i could think of is that they have periods and might get angry.

but even that sounds dumb.

man, i bet coolio would be all for that
 
CabbageRed said:
We give birth to buildings!
that is the point..... was that so hard to understand?
We'll have to settle with second best when it comes to creation.
Still, great things were created because of our void.
 
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