Anemone's Research Emporium

Sex doesn't sell: A follow up to the original essay

Anemone Cerridwen
May 23, 2009

A year and a half ago I said that you could file a complaint for sexual harassment for sexualized content in a film script. Boy, was I naive.

Don't get me wrong. Sexualized content in any job description is sexual harassment. But try to get the courts to see that.

Last summer (2008) I started auditioning for student films. I knew there was a chance I would encounter sexualized content, but I didn't think it would be that bad in student films. Again, I was wrong. The first film role I applied for involved being in the same room while a teenager was groped. (You don't find out the content until after you apply - all they give you up front is a character description and short plot summary. You only find out the content after you've started hoping this role might be the break you need, since they only send you the script if they decide to give you an audition.) When I went to the audition, not sure what to do, I was asked to audition for the teenager role. At age 43! I guess I look young when I'm nervous. I wasn't offered either role. If I had been, I would have asked for a rewrite. I'm pretty sure they would have said no, since I think they were trying to be sleazy on purpose.

The whole situation was surreal. I couldn't tell how I felt. It was seductive, in the sense that I really wanted to work, and a part of me would have agreed to anything. On the other hand, I knew perfectly well from experience that I would end up either dangerously numb, with physical symptoms, or in hysterics, if I actually tried to do either role.

The second student film I auditioned for was fine. It was a beautiful script, actually. I hope they succeeded. Four male roles and one female role, worse than the usual 2:1 male:female job ratio, but still, at least there was a female role. I didn't get the part, but it was only my second audition.

The third student film I was going to audition for, it turns out I would have had to lie on someone and kiss him. I asked if they could rewrite it, and they said they would consider it if I were right for the part, but by this point I was so stressed I cancelled the audition. I had no idea how crushing it would be just to read these scripts in the first place. Even now writing this I have a hard time understanding how crushing it is, but it is. It's the same old "this is all you will ever be good for" and it gets me every time. I guess the emotional amnesia between episodes is self-protective.

At this point I stopped applying for auditions for a long time, though I continued to track them. I only really went back to applying in March 2009. And I avoid applying for any role that might contain sexualized content, by avoiding all wife and girlfriend roles. That doesn't leave much, but to be fair to the students, it does leave some roles.

I tried emailing the film school (all three films were Vancouver Film School student films). They didn't have a sexual harassment complaint officer, so I tried the general administration address. No reply. So then I looked up the name of the school owner (it's a privately owned school) and wrote him a snail-mail letter. He passed it on to the acting director, who told me that they ask the students to meet NC14 standards. (There's no such thing as NC14. I don't know if he meant the American NC-17 or the Canadian A14. Either way that's a lot of nookie that isn't being screened out.) He also said he hoped I would find something suitable among the 180+ films their students make every year. Here's my letter and here's his reply.

After this I filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal, claiming that allowing student filmmakers to require sexualized content as a condition of employment in student films was sexual harassment, intentional or not. My original complaint (pdf file) is here. I was invited to elaborate, and the complaint was passed on to a higher authority. My elaboration is here. The final decision was to not accept my complaint, on the grounds that I could always choose other roles.

It is clear that you are unhappy with the sexualized content of acting roles and/or with the sexualized content of films; and you do not feel this content is or may be necessary. The terms and conditions of employment and the requirements of the employment are known in advance of the employment. Therefore, a person seeking employment in the industry has discretion which roles they would be comfortable in performing and may apply for those roles accordingly. The essence of 'acted out' sexualized content is not the equivalent of sexual harassment in a work place.

Therefore, the Tribunal has decided that it will not proceed with your complaint and your file has been closed.

This is the same position the union (UBCP) takes.

I'm not sure how you're supposed to choose other roles. There are twice as many roles for men as for women in the first place, and female roles are more sexualized than male roles (see statistics in elaboration). In addition, they cast you according to what you look like. If you're female, not too old, and look nice, girlfriend roles may be all they will consider you for. And if you don't want to do those, then what? It may be comparatively easy for men to find roles to try out for, but I have found it quite hard. So far all I have managed is unpaid background work in one student film and one low-budget short film. Background work is not what I am looking for, or I'd sign with an agency and do just that, but it's better than nothing for now. Quite frankly I simply don't blend into the background well (I've spent most of this background work in deep background, where you can't see me stick out like a sore thumb), so I wouldn't have a future in background work even if I wanted it. As far as speaking roles go, I have purposefully only applied for roles that don't appear to be girlfriend or wife roles, in order to avoid having to turn down auditions for sexualized roles. Better not to get my hopes up than to get them crushed, again, and again, and again. I've also read at a script reading series once, after learning how to project my voice better, but again, there aren't many script-reading roles suitable for those of us women who don't like sexualized content. And this means that I'm not getting the experience I need. The ones who are ok, or at least not as upset, with the status quo are the ones getting the experience. And as a result, when a role I could do comes along, they're going to have the edge.

Sexualized job descriptions are a problem in other industries as well. In most industries, any sexualized content is automatic grounds for a sexual harassment complaint. But acting, dance, modelling, and some waitressing seem to be "different", for various reasons. For some of these jobs (e.g. waitressing), if they add it (e.g. sexy dress code) to the job description after you're hired, you can probably successfully complain. But if they put it in the job description ahead of time, apparently it's ok (for the courts at least). And there are waitressing jobs where sexy is part of the dress code. For "art" jobs, even if they added it in after you were hired, it would still probably be ok with the courts, because that's the nature of the industry and you should know what you're getting into. And yet at the same time if you don't like it you're supposed to choose other roles in the same industry? I'm not sure how that's supposed to work.

Ok, explain to me how there are more workers looking for work than there are jobs, and how people are often not in a position to be fussy, since welfare rates are not high enough to make ends meet for those who can't get work, so you have to work, and still we have a situation where the number of sexualized jobs is determined by employers, not employees, but somehow it is all supposed to be by choice???

Talk about blind spots.

I think what they're saying is that if it's not a "respectable" job, you don't get the protection other people can take for granted, at least in principle. And what gets me is that, even though these aren't "respectable" jobs, they still have value. Movies are good for society (depending on the content, of course). So why not show more respect for the performers who make them? Why should I walk away from movies when they may turn out to be the one thing I can do (because it's the one thing I really care about), just because a bunch of spoiled adolescents have turned the film industry into a really bad frat party? Not me. I'm stubborn enough to stick around and fight.

My real concern right now is that I'd like to take more acting classes, to stay in practice and maybe even improve, and I even have a bit of money to pay for some (though not much), but I'm worried I'll run into sexualized content in the classroom. I have in the past, so why wouldn't I run into it again? It's the industry norm, and everyone in the industry is taught that there's nothing wrong with it. If anything it's good for people because it's art. I don't want to do it, or even be in the same room as it (since it's fairly obvious a lot of other women don't want to do it either, and I don't like watching others submit reluctantly), but what are my choices? If I pay to take a class, and I run into sexualized content, can I get them to remove the sexualized content, or am I left with the choice of choosing another class (which one?) or a refund if I run into trouble? I get the feeling that I can't even pay people to not sexually harass me in this industry.

And can anybody say "hostile work environment"?

As long as the courts are unwilling to consider sexualized job descriptions as sexual harassment, there's nothing I can do. If a lot of people took a stand all at once, we could change things, possibly even fairly quickly. I suspect that the public is tired of all this sexualized content and would be ready for the change, especially now that more people are aware of how damaging prostitution and other "sex work" is, and how much trafficking is involved in this so-called sexual liberation. Choice? Hah! And I'm seeing a few news stories here and there of actresses who don't like the status quo either. The illusion is wearing off. But as long as most people in the industry don't complain, people like me seem like anomalies, and things don't change.

I'm sorry if you're in a situation similar to mine, where you want to work but you can't handle the job description. I'm especially sorry if I got your hopes up prematurely. I'd like to say you can change things, but you probably can't. Not all by yourself. People who have already made it need to speak up more. A lot more. All together now! Until then you may just need to wait, and do like so many of us do when we're out of work. Take up screenwriting.

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