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Female Representation
in Cinema.

By Brianne de Deugd for the minor Information Design,
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Have you ever heard of the Bechdel Test? This test measures the representation of women in pieces of fiction by posing the question, Does this work feature at least two women who are having a conversation about something other than a man? But when it comes to women in film, there are more interesting questions. Let's ask them and find the answers.

Women Behind the Scenes

How many women have worked behind the scenes in the past 100 years?

Who do you envision when you think of a movie director? How about a movie producer? A cameraperson? And who do you envision when you think of the costume department? For decades, the vast majority of filmmakers were men, but how have women entered the scene in the past 100 years?

Women in the Oscars

How many women have won non-gendered Oscars?

We all know the Best Actress category in the Oscars, something that is logically a 100% won by women. But how do our women compete with their male counterparts in other categories?

In Conclusion:

As we've seen in the data, women haven't been entirely invisible in the twentieth century film world. Though they weren't winning Oscars at the time, they've always been present at the writer's table and behind the camera.

In 100 years, the percentage women make up in the crews of movies made has grown from a mere 4.68% to 12.13%, and since 1985 women have been getting nominated for Best Director and Best Cinematography at the Oscars! And although the numbers may not be very large yet, the journey we have just now taken through time proves that there's a steady increase in female representation in film.

I hope these visualisations motivate you to pay more attention to who is making your movies, and what that means for how that movie turned out in the end. After all, women can do anything.