Hollywood drives the narrative around who matters in our society. So when zero women were nominated to the 2020 Oscar’s best director category, we should have been stunned, although homogeneity does run deep in the roots of the film industry.
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In the Oscar’s 92-year history, only five women have been nominated for best director. As of December 2019, men represent 68% of Oscar voters, and 84% of all Oscar voters are white. This lack of diversity comes at a time when America’s trust in the mass media sits at record lows. Will Hollywood become the next institution to lose our trust? It doesn’t have to be, not if we make the choice now to improve gender equity in film.