Sexism in Post' Revisited: Six Years Later, Has Anything Changed? data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/145204/600faf67e1d3e-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/145204/600faf67d0980-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Kylee Pe a February 1, 2021
0 Comments
Sexism in post production: sometimes it's exactly what you think. But mostly it isn't.
I first wrote that statement about six years ago, when even bringing up the concept of gender equality would garner eyerolls at best and death threats at worst. Thankfully I got far more of the former.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26062619/Sexism1_630.jpg alt= data-id=2401926 data-link=https://creativecow.net/?attachment_id=2401926 class=lazyload wp-image-2401926/>
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26062635/NAB_South_Hall630.png alt= data-id=2401927 data-full-url=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26062635/NAB_South_Hall630.png data-link=https://creativecow.net/?attachment_id=2401927 class=lazyload wp-image-2401927/>
Origin story: a meet-up to test the waters of gender equality discussions at NAB in 2014 led to one of the first articles written on sexism in the industry.Those eyerolls came in dozens of comments on the article - most from men - many of which sought to tell me I had it wrong or I was being dramatic. (This led me to turning off commenting on all my posts. Not because they bothered me, but because I felt they didn't deserve to have their nonsensical words immortalized next to thoughtful analysis for young women to see and internalize.)
Many responses on Twitter were similar, or supportive-with-exceptions (example: I've always worked with so many women! ) A thread on the RedUser.net forums popped up with dozens of pages - unsurprising, since the main illustration of obvious sexism in my article was a bikini show at Red's booth at NAB Show.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-1024x650.png alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2401928 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-1024x650.png 1024w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-300x190.png 300w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-768x487.png 768w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-624x396.png 624w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery.png 1188w data-sizes=(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px />RED took the 2014 NAB Show feedback and returned in 2015 with gratuitous violence against a blood female dummy. I'm not sure what marketing purpose this served, but it was a good metaphor for how men react to the subject of sexism.The purpose of my article was to demonstrate that while bikini shows were disgustingly sexist, they were the exception when it came to post production. My assessment was that the sexism and inequality experienced by below-the-line women wasn't ogling and ass-slapping (and that it would be easy to stop if it were that). It was casual sexism and unconscious bias present in everyone regardless of gender. It's systemic. It's passive. It's cultural. Everyone participates in it every day. And in many ways, that's even harder to detect or correct.
Thankfully, many more people were ready to engage with this discussion of unconscious, inherent sexism in post production. Podcasts, blogs, notes of encouragement, emails from thankful young women, passionate brunch discussions, and even the first (as far as I know) panel on gender equality in post production featured at the 2015 NAB Show - with a line of people waiting to get in the room a half hour before it started. (The panel was featured in Indiewire, but also in a Forbes piece about fashion at NAB Show.)
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap-1024x909.png alt= data-id=2401929 data-full-url=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap.png data-link=https://creativecow.net/?attachment_id=2401929 class=lazyload wp-image-2401929 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap-1024x909.png 1024w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap-300x266.png 300w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap-768x682.png 768w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap-624x554.png 624w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26064157/Indie_Wire_Gender_Gap.png 1102w data-sizes=(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px />
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-1024x650.png alt= data-id=2401928 data-full-url=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery.png data-link=https://creativecow.net/?attachment_id=2401928 class=lazyload wp-image-2401928 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-1024x650.png 1024w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-300x190.png 300w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-768x487.png 768w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery-624x396.png 624w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/26063411/RED_NAB_Heart_Surgery.png 1188w data-sizes=(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px />
The article I&
