In an editorial piece on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times called for the end of all gendered categories in award shows such as the Emmys, Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.
Ahead of the latest announcements for nominations for the 95th Academy Awards, the LA Times suggested that it may be time to retire the traditional "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" categories in order to promote better equality.
"It makes sense for every awards organization that still uses it to scotch this outdated categorization. Why shouldn’t performances by all actors, regardless of gender designation, be judged together? They all work together in a movie or TV show. And the categorizations don’t fit every performer," the LA Times wrote.
The publication remarked that the Grammy Awards and the MTV Movie and TV Awards have already gotten rid of gendered categories years prior with the other award shows starting to follow suit.
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"Both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which hands out the Oscars) and the Television Academy (which awards Emmys for acting in 18 different categories) are looking into the idea of nongender categories. Already, nominees for Oscars or Emmys can request their nomination certificates and awards with gender-neutral wording. That’s a good start, but they need to go further," the LA Times explained.
However, they warned, "But there’s one important thing to remember: Gender neutrality does not mean gender equality."
According to 2022 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report on films covered by the Los Angeles Times, women made up less than half of the leads in 2021 films with only 25% of Oscar-winning films having a female lead.
In response, the publication offered scenarios to consider when making the change.
"Other things worth considering: If the Oscars went gender-neutral, the Academy would need to expand the field to at least 10 nominees in each of the two acting categories. None of its other award categories, such as cinematography or directing, are gendered. But should the Academy give out only two awards (leading and supporting) instead of the usual four (leading performance and supporting performance by an actor and actress)? In one fell swoop the Academy would cut in half the awards performers can win and the ones that viewers most want to see. Perhaps the Academy could declare two winners in each category," they outlined.
The Los Angeles Times concluded, "Dissolving gendered categories for Oscars or Emmys would not magically give women parity with men in accessing substantial acting roles and being celebrated for their work. Despite some notable recent gains for women, the entertainment industry is still weighted in favor of men. The last thing we would want to see are nongendered acting categories full of male nominees and winners."
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The 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards previously announced that it would allow nominees to request their nomination and potential statuette to use the genderless term "Performer" rather than "Actor" or "Actress."
