Analysis of Gender Discrimination in the Film Industry

Running head: DISSERTATION
Analysis of gender discrimination which exists within the film industry with respect to the
systematic ratings received by the movies nominated for the Academy Awards
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The aim of this research is to understand if the movies that have only actors nominated to the
academy awards receive systematic higher ratings compared to those movies in which only
actresses get nominated for the acting award. The first chapter provides a brief introduction in to
the research work. The aim of this research is to understand if the movies that have only actors
nominated to the academy awards receive systematic higher ratings compared to those movies in
which only actresses get nominated for the acting award. This chapter also mentions the research
objectives and the research questions that the paper seeks to answer. The second chapter seeks to
provide a detailed examination of the various secondary sources of literature pertaining to the
related field of interest. In this respect, the various book, academic journals and articles have
been referenced which discusses the issue of gender discrimination in the context of motion
pictures. This has provided the researcher an insight in to the various opinions held by the
scholars of related field. The third chapter enumerates in the various research methodologies that
have been used in the course of the research for its effective execution. This chapter also looks in
to the limitations that have faced by the researcher and the other ethical considerations that had
to be adhered to for the research. The forth chapter tries to find all the relevant data and statistics
with regard to the research issue at hand. In this respect, this chapter looks in to the number of
movies nominated for academy awards and the gender of the lead characters. Furthermore, the
ratings of such movies have also been taken into consideration. The fifth chapter interprets the
data found in the previous chapter and relates it with the information gathered from the
secondary sources of literature in the literature review section. This enables the researcher to
provide validity to the information collected and therefore, the analysis provided in this chapter
increases in reliability. The sixth chapter concludes the dissertation. This chapter synthesizes all

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the information gathered in the course of the research and reaches a logical conclusion. This
chapter also provides certain recommendation on how to diminish the issue of gender
discrimination as is observed within the field of motion pictures.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................7
1.0 Overview................................................................................................................................7
1.1 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................7
1.2 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................8
1.3 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................8
1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................8
1.5 Research Rationale................................................................................................................9
1.6 Research Structure.................................................................................................................9
1.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................11
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................12
2.0 Over view.............................................................................................................................12
2.1 Gender discrimination as present within the contemporary world order............................12
2.2 Gender discrimination as existing within the film industry.................................................13
2.3 Discrimination against the women gender and how it impacts them..................................16
2.4 Instances of gender inequality within the entertainment industry.......................................17
2.5 Portrayal of the role of women in films...............................................................................19
2.6 The impact of the ‘Male Gaze’............................................................................................22
Summary....................................................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................25

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3.0 Over view.............................................................................................................................25
3.1 Research Outline..................................................................................................................25
3.2 Methodology........................................................................................................................25
3.3 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................26
3.3.1 Justification of the use of positivist research philosophy.............................................27
3.4 Research Approach..............................................................................................................27
3.4.1 Justification of the use of deductive research approach...............................................27
3.5 Research Design..................................................................................................................28
3.5.1 Justification of the use of descriptive research design..................................................28
3.6 Data collection technique....................................................................................................28
3.6.1 Justification of the application of secondary data collection technique.......................29
3.7 Sampling technique.............................................................................................................29
3.8 Data collection technique....................................................................................................30
3.8.1 Justification of the use of secondary data collection technique....................................30
3.9 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................30
3.9.1 Justification of the data analysis technique..................................................................31
3.10 Ethical Considerations.......................................................................................................31
3.11 Accessibility Issues............................................................................................................32
3.12 Summary............................................................................................................................32
Chapter 4: Data findings................................................................................................................33

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4.0 Over view.............................................................................................................................33
4.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................38
Chapter 5: Data Discussion...........................................................................................................40
5.0 Over view.............................................................................................................................40
5.1 Theme 1: To understand the issue of gender discrimination as it exists within the present
world order.................................................................................................................................40
5.2 Theme 2: To examine the various gender discriminations that are present in the field of
motion pictures and entertainment.............................................................................................42
5.3 Theme 3: To analyze the movies nominated to the academy awards and the ratings
received by them based on the gender of the characters...........................................................44
5.4 Summary..............................................................................................................................46
Chapter 6: Conclusion...................................................................................................................48
6.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................48
6.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................49
6.2 Recommendation.................................................................................................................51
6.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................52
References:....................................................................................................................................53

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
The issue of gender discrimination has been in existence in the society since times
immemorial. The female gender is seen to be subservient to their male counterparts who have a
dominating role to play in the society (Kabeer 2015). This social evil of gender discrimination is
visible even to this day of the twenty first century where there is a considerable importance
placed on the maintenance of human rights and human dignity.
In the present world order, the issue of gender parity has assumed significance. The
females of the society are now allowed to take an active participation in the public sphere, at par
with their male counterparts (Healey, Stepnick and O'Brien 2018). However, there is a deep
underlying notion of gender discrimination which is still present in the fields of economics,
sociology and even in that of politics (Kabeer and Sweetman 2018). The sector of motion
pictures is not an exception. Within this field of motion pictures, it can be observed that severe
discriminations exists with respect to the payment received by the various actors and actresses
and their effective nomination to the academic awards.
In this regard, the major discrimination that can be noticed is with respect to the
systematic review ratings which are received by the movies. It has been found out that a certain
extent of discrimination is considerably visible with respect to the issue of review ratings
received which is invariably dependent to some extent, upon the gender of the lead character
(Sanchez and Paniagua 2017).
1.1 Problem Statement
Gender discrimination continues to be in existence in the twenty first century world order