We've Got Hollywood Covered
|

Guerrilla Girls Bring Back ‘Senate Is More Progressive Than Hollywood’ Campaign

In 1999, there was a higher percentage of women in the U.S. Senate than of directors working on Hollywood films — 20 years later, it’s still true

| February 5, 2019 @ 5:00 AM
Senate Hollywood Guerilla Girls

Twenty years ago, the feminist art collective Guerrilla Girls put out a sharp campaign comparing female representation in politics and Hollywood, declaring that the U.S. Senate was more progressive than the ostensibly liberal film industry. Now they’re bringing it back.

The group is teaming with the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, making their annual “Celluloid Ceiling” study the core of their new campaign. As the study noted last month, only 4 percent of the top 100 films in 2018 were directed by women — the exact same as it was in 1999.

As Guerrilla Girls notes, the percentage of women in the Senate has increased from 9 percent in 1999 to 25 percent after last year’s midterm elections, leading to their slogan declaring that  “Hollywood is still worse than the U.S. Senate.”

Senate Hollywood Guerilla Girls

Guerilla Girls

“The intent of the campaign is to illustrate that 20 years later, the film industry continues to lag behind even our most staid political institutions,” commented Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center.

“The side-by-side comparison offers a way of conceptualizing how little Hollywood has changed over the last two decades. While numerous media outlets dubbed 2018 the ‘year of the women’ due to the upsurge in the numbers of women who ran for and won political office, the same can’t be said for the employment of women as film directors.”

Power Women Summit 2018 Portraits, From Barbara Boxer to Zoe Saldana (Photos)

  • Power Women Summit Split
  • Mira Sorvino, Power Women Summit
  • Zoe Saldana, Power Women Summit
  • Zoe Saldana, Power Women Summit
  • Zoe Saldana and Dolores Huerta, Power Women Summit
  • Dolores Huerta, Power Women Summit
  • Anita Hill, Power Women Summit
  • Anita Hill and Frieda Lee Mock, Power Women Summit
  • MeToo Survivors, Power Women Summit
  • The Kaplan Twins, Power Women Summit
  • The Kaplan Twins, Power Women Summit
  • Adrienne Kebbel, Power Women Summit
  • Arielle Kebbel, Power Women Summit
  • David Oyelowo, Power Women Summit
  • Rosanna Arquette, Power Women Summit
  • Stephanie Shepard, Power Women Summit
  • Alysia Reiner, Power Women Summit
  • Ariel Wengroff, Power Women Summit
  • Beatriz Acevedo, Power Women Summit
  • Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Power Women Summit
  • Bria Smith, Power Women Summit
  • Cari Champion, Power Women Summit
  • Christine Simmons, Power Women Summit
  • Christine Simmons, Power Women Summit
  • Cindy Leive, Power Women Summit
  • Trace Lysette, Power Women Summit
  • Haim, Power Women Summit
  • Haim, Power Women Summit
  • Ibtihaj Muhammad, Power Women Summit
  • Ibtihaj Muhammad and Christine Simmons, Power Women Summit
  • Melanie Liburd, Power Women Summit
  • Melanie Liburd, Power Women Summit
  • Melanie Liburd, Power Women Summit
  • Ileana Douglass, Power Women Summit
  • Jaclyn Corin and Bria Smith, Power Women Summit
  • Jaclyn Corin, Power Women Summit
  • Jaclyn Corin and Bria Smith, Power Women Summit
  • Jessica Sanders and Freida Lee Mock, Power Women Summit
  • Jill Soloway, Power Women Summit
  • Joanne Lipman, Power Women Summit
  • Kimberly Steward, Power Women Summit
  • Cassian Elwes, Power Women Summit
  • Nancy Dubuc, Power Women Summit
  • Barbara Boxer, Power Women Summit
  • Nicole Boxer and Barbara Boxer, Power Women Summit
  • Nicole Boxer, Power Women Summit
  • Nicole Brown, Power Women Summit
  • Niija Kuykendall, Power Women Summit
  • Pamela Green, Power Women Summit
  • Rebecca Sugar, Power Women Summit
  • Chris Andrews, Power Women Summit
  • Sarah Ann Masse and Louisette Geiss, Power Women Summit
  • Scott Budnick, Power Women Summit
  • Stephanie Allain, Power Women Summit
  • Sue Obeidi, Power Women Summit
  • Tanya Lopez, Power Women Summit
  • Tarana Burke, Power Women Summit
  • Tina Tchen, Power Women Summit
  • Jessica Sanders, Power Women Summit
  • Crystal Patterson, Power Women Summit
  • Lela Lee and Pauline Sanders, Power Women Summit
1 of 62

Mira Sorvino, Anita Hill, HAIM, David Oyelowo, Rosanna Arquette, Nancy Dubuc, Jill Soloway and more participated in TheWrap’s inaugural event

View In Gallery