Emma Watson Drops Numbers on Sexism in Hollywood

It's Hollywood sexism for dummies.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Hollywood sexism gets talked about a lot and there’s loads of concrete data to back it up, like the fact that only 12 percent of last year’s 100 highest grossing films had a female protagonist, or more recently, how Viola Davis became the first black woman in Emmy’s history (that’s 67 years, btw) to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama, illustrating the plight of black women and other women of color in Hollywood and everywhere else. Emma Watson, United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador, recently talked about how this political issue was personal for her by sharing her experiences as a working woman in Hollywood and by talking about how few women she’s worked with in the industry in comparison to men. 

Watson told The Guardian, “I have experienced sexism in that I have been directed by male directors 17 times and only twice by women. Of the producers I’ve worked with 13 have been male and only one has been a woman.” That’s about 10 percent and 7 percent respectively. 

The 25-year-old actress noted how her UN position and campaign, HeForShe, a campaign meant to be inclusive of men in the fight for women’s rights. 

“I think my work with the UN has probably made me even more aware of the problems,” Watson said. “I went out for a work dinner recently. It was 7 men…and me.”

[via Time]

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