Today my acting teacher told the class that all women directors are controlling and they don't allow their actors to contribute anything to the filmmaking process. He went on to qualify this statement by saying 'that's my experience and I've worked with five female directors'. Apparently five women are representative of millions. It's so disheartening to hear comments like this from your peers but to hear them in class is too much! My Directing teacher is worse. He calls me 'darling' and constantly talks about female crew members being too weak to carry our equipment. Last week one of my classmates moaned about being in a group with four girls. He argued that he had only meant it as a joke but what's funny about diminishing women's proffessional capabilities?
Here it seems acceptable to make sweeping judgements about women in a proffessional sphere but you never hear broad statements about men. When was the last time anyone said 'Men are really bitchy in the work place' or 'Men never put in the hours that women do'. You wouldn't say it because it wouldn't be true. Attitudes to work and creativity are NOT determined by gender!
No wonder only three women directors have been nominated for an Oscar! This industry is one of the last bastions of male chauvinism.
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