Lights, Camera, Pay-Cut! Gender-based wage gap in the entertainment industry, worldwide

Here’s to strong women

May we know them

May we raise them

May we be them…

Wage-disparity or gender based wage-gap, has been a worldwide issue that has plagued the entertainment industry for ages. However, it was quite recently that celebrities have actually started talking about it on public platforms. Gender-based wage disparity already existed in other domains and was just replicated in the entertainment industry, as well. In fact, it can be seen as a reflection of the unfair wage-standards of the society on the whole, including that of the corporate world. 

A few years back, renowned celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and

Meryl Streep raised their voices in unison against gender-based wage disparity that exists in Hollywood.

Soon closer at home, not to be left behind, Bollywood actresses like Kareena Kapoor and Anushka Sharma spoke openly about the sheer absurdity of wage differences between them and their male counterparts.

However, what is evident, compared with Hollywood is that Hollywood is at least giving noteworthy roles to female actresses. On the other hand in India, the actress is relegated to a mere prop and a tool to titillate the audience.

Moreover, whenever a female-celebrity like Kangana Ranaut tries to speak out against the male-dominated culture, she is slut-shamed and trolled non-stop. Equal-wage remains a distant dream for Bollywood actresses, primarily, female starlets in India need to get the same respect as their male counterparts.

Recently, 'Pink' fame, Tapsee Pannu made a noteworthy statement: 'don't blame actresses for not taking up good roles, blame yourself for not watching movies, which have actresses with good roles in them.' She went on to further state that the box office opening collections of a film starring a female lead are around 4-5 crores whereas a male protagonist, irrespective of the quality of the movie, gets an average opening of 10-15 crores. And thus actresses in general are paid lesser in India compared to their male counterparts. 

In part, the audience too is to be blamed for the wage-gap. We need to give actresses the respect they deserve and encourage movies featuring strong female leads. 

                                    

When it comes to equal pay, the situation is bleak even in Hollywood.

If reports are to be believed, Gal Gadot received a meager pay compared to other popular Superheroes from the DC and Marvel universe. This goes to show that there's still time for actresses to receive equal pay in the west.

The reason for disparity in pay can be attributed to the age-old dated mindset that women are not a bigger draw at the Box Office. However, this doesn’t hold true anymore considering recent Hollywood blockbusters were all lead by actresses (Ghosbusters, Wonder Woman & Bridesmaids).

This has resulted in to a catalytic chain reaction propelling more women-centric movies with big budgets such as Ocean’s 8, Pitch Perfect 3 and Rough Night.

In India, the success of Bollywood movies with actresses as protagonists has been quite evident in the past few years with movies like Piku, Tanu Weds Manu, Queen, Kahaani; all doing quite well at the box office. 

This has encouraged directors to come out with more movies revolving around strong female leads like Maa, Matra and Simran.  

However, in both industries, women are yet to get paychecks the men are used to receiving for each movie, irrespective of the performance of their past outing.

A unified movement of sorts on the global front is the only solution for ensuring an equal pay for actresses. The same can also be said about other industries where women are occupying top-positions, yet are lagging behind when it comes to the amount of pay received by them.

It is to be seen when this vicious cycle of unfair gender based wage-gap ends. Hopefully this is one victory which will be led by and won by women single-handedly.