Whether or not you agree with this approach, do you think nongendered awards are the future of the entertainment industry?
Should Award Shows Eliminate Gendered Categories?
Some think the prizes for best male artist and best female artist should simply be “best artist.” Would this approach be more inclusive, or less?
The cast of Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series at the SAG Awards in February.
The cast of Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series at the SAG Awards in February.Credit...Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated
It’s awards season for the entertainment industry. Do you watch any award shows, such as the Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes? Are there any actors or artists you are rooting for?
Individual awards in many of these ceremonies have long been separated by gender, for example best actor and best actress, best male performance and best female performance. The New York Times recently asked celebrities: “Should major award shows eliminate separate acting categories for men and women?” What do you think?
In “Awards Without Gender Categories? Celebrities Debate,” Sarah Bahr writes about how the actors responded to that question:
LOS ANGELES — On the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Sunday, stars answered the usual questions. Were they excited to be here? Yes. How did it feel to be recognized? Amazing. What TV show would they want to guest star in? “The White Lotus.”
But one question we posed made nearly every person stop, ponder for several seconds and then deliver a thinking-aloud answer, often with a caveat or a pivot in the middle:
“Should major award shows eliminate separate acting categories for men and women?” we asked.
The ongoing debate over gender-neutral acting prizes, which could also mean fewer nominations for everyone, is part of the conversation again this awards season. In 2021, the Gotham Awards, which honor independent films, nixed separate acting categories for men and women. Last year, the Brit Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Grammys, merged its categories for best male and best female artist of the year into one gender-neutral top prize. And this year, the event faced backlash for not nominating any women for the award. The Grammy Awards eliminated many gendered categories beginning with the 2012 ceremony.
Nonbinary actors such as Emma Corrin, who are often forced to choose a category in which to be considered, have called for gender-neutral award categories. The trans nonbinary performer Justin David Sullivan from the Broadway musical “& Juliet” withdrew their name from consideration when the Tony Awards eligibility rulings were announced earlier this month, putting public pressure on the awards. (Both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out Oscars, and the Television Academy, which handles the Emmy Awards, are looking into nongendered categories, according to The Los Angeles Times. Nominees are already able to request gender-neutral wording on their awards at both events.)
The immediate response of many attendees at the SAG Awards was a desire for awards to be more inclusive.
“I think it’s a positive thing,” said Will Sharpe, who plays Ethan Spiller, the workaholic tech nerd married to Harper on Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series on Sunday night, noting he believed it would “level out the playing field.”
“Why not?” said Michael Imperioli, who plays the womanizing Hollywood producer Dominic Di Grasso on “The White Lotus,” on combining the acting categories. “It’s all one big acting soup.”
Other nominees addressed the potential benefit for nonbinary actors.
“There are people who don’t want to be defined by gender, and I want to help make awards more inclusive for them,” said Rhea Seehorn, who plays the lawyer Kim Wexler in “Better Call Saul,” which was nominated for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for its final season.
But then she paused for thought.
“At the same time,” she added, until women and nonbinary performers are afforded “as much screen time as the men, it’s not very fair to compare the performances.”
My students, read the entire article, then tell me:
Did anything the celebrities said in the article change your answer to the question of whether award shows should eliminate gendered categories? Which points did you find the most persuasive, and why?
Some of the people quoted in the article said that gendered categories made award shows less inclusive, particularly of nonbinary actors; while others said that gendered categories were more inclusive because they provided increased opportunities, especially for women who tended to get less screen time. What do you think about these ideas? In your opinion, what is the most inclusive approach? Are there other goals besides, or in addition to, inclusivity that we should be considering?
August Winter, a nonbinary actor, is quoted as saying that gender-neutral award categories “honor the person who is making the art.” What is your response to this statement? The article states that some award shows, including the Grammys, Brit Awards and Gotham Awards, have already eliminated many gendered categories. Whether or not you agree with this approach, do you think nongendered awards are the future of the entertainment industry? Why or why not?
If the decision were yours to make, would you keep separate awards for men and women? Or would you create a single prize for all actors or artists? Why? What other changes might you suggest to these award shows?
Some think the prizes for best male artist and best female artist should simply be “best artist.” Would this approach be more inclusive, or less?
The cast of Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series at the SAG Awards in February.
The cast of Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series at the SAG Awards in February.Credit...Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated
It’s awards season for the entertainment industry. Do you watch any award shows, such as the Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes? Are there any actors or artists you are rooting for?
Individual awards in many of these ceremonies have long been separated by gender, for example best actor and best actress, best male performance and best female performance. The New York Times recently asked celebrities: “Should major award shows eliminate separate acting categories for men and women?” What do you think?
In “Awards Without Gender Categories? Celebrities Debate,” Sarah Bahr writes about how the actors responded to that question:
LOS ANGELES — On the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Sunday, stars answered the usual questions. Were they excited to be here? Yes. How did it feel to be recognized? Amazing. What TV show would they want to guest star in? “The White Lotus.”
But one question we posed made nearly every person stop, ponder for several seconds and then deliver a thinking-aloud answer, often with a caveat or a pivot in the middle:
“Should major award shows eliminate separate acting categories for men and women?” we asked.
The ongoing debate over gender-neutral acting prizes, which could also mean fewer nominations for everyone, is part of the conversation again this awards season. In 2021, the Gotham Awards, which honor independent films, nixed separate acting categories for men and women. Last year, the Brit Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Grammys, merged its categories for best male and best female artist of the year into one gender-neutral top prize. And this year, the event faced backlash for not nominating any women for the award. The Grammy Awards eliminated many gendered categories beginning with the 2012 ceremony.
Nonbinary actors such as Emma Corrin, who are often forced to choose a category in which to be considered, have called for gender-neutral award categories. The trans nonbinary performer Justin David Sullivan from the Broadway musical “& Juliet” withdrew their name from consideration when the Tony Awards eligibility rulings were announced earlier this month, putting public pressure on the awards. (Both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out Oscars, and the Television Academy, which handles the Emmy Awards, are looking into nongendered categories, according to The Los Angeles Times. Nominees are already able to request gender-neutral wording on their awards at both events.)
The immediate response of many attendees at the SAG Awards was a desire for awards to be more inclusive.
“I think it’s a positive thing,” said Will Sharpe, who plays Ethan Spiller, the workaholic tech nerd married to Harper on Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” which won the top TV award for a drama series on Sunday night, noting he believed it would “level out the playing field.”
“Why not?” said Michael Imperioli, who plays the womanizing Hollywood producer Dominic Di Grasso on “The White Lotus,” on combining the acting categories. “It’s all one big acting soup.”
Other nominees addressed the potential benefit for nonbinary actors.
“There are people who don’t want to be defined by gender, and I want to help make awards more inclusive for them,” said Rhea Seehorn, who plays the lawyer Kim Wexler in “Better Call Saul,” which was nominated for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for its final season.
But then she paused for thought.
“At the same time,” she added, until women and nonbinary performers are afforded “as much screen time as the men, it’s not very fair to compare the performances.”
My students, read the entire article, then tell me:
Did anything the celebrities said in the article change your answer to the question of whether award shows should eliminate gendered categories? Which points did you find the most persuasive, and why?
Some of the people quoted in the article said that gendered categories made award shows less inclusive, particularly of nonbinary actors; while others said that gendered categories were more inclusive because they provided increased opportunities, especially for women who tended to get less screen time. What do you think about these ideas? In your opinion, what is the most inclusive approach? Are there other goals besides, or in addition to, inclusivity that we should be considering?
August Winter, a nonbinary actor, is quoted as saying that gender-neutral award categories “honor the person who is making the art.” What is your response to this statement? The article states that some award shows, including the Grammys, Brit Awards and Gotham Awards, have already eliminated many gendered categories. Whether or not you agree with this approach, do you think nongendered awards are the future of the entertainment industry? Why or why not?
If the decision were yours to make, would you keep separate awards for men and women? Or would you create a single prize for all actors or artists? Why? What other changes might you suggest to these award shows?
