Changing gender portrayal: Promoting employment opportunities for women in the performing arts.
The fourth piece of literature I have chosen to review is a report based on research from International Federation of Actors (FIA) an international non-governmental organisation representing performers’ trade unions, guilds and associations around the world.
The first thing that I noticed when reading this report was the way in which the data was displayed in an easy to read manner, clear and concise. The purpose of this document was to research the disadvantages in employment older women performers in particular compared to male performers experienced. It was apparent that a lot of preparation had gone into sourcing the information within this document reaching right across the EU.
Although this document is very specific with its intentions to look at gender equality I believe much of the findings attempting "to form a picture of the realities of working as a performer in Europe and in particular to collect data on the perceived effects of a performer’s age, gender and other social identities on their access to employment. Centrally, does ageing affect access to jobs, content of jobs, pay and career longevity differently depending on a performer’s gender?" (Dean 2011) provides great insight. For me the collection of data for this report showed how much the perceptions of others could provide vital knowledge and insight into ways in perhaps improvements within the performance sector could be made. I felt the collection of such mass data provided a great example of how data compiled can provide concise answers to establish areas for improvement. Looking at this report I was able to see a great example of how opinions from professionals within the performing arts industry could potentially benefit other aspiring professionals. One comment when respondents were asked "What would improve employment opportunities for you?" (Dean 2011) really stood out to me and I felt could hold much relevance for my inquiry. One answer to this question wanted "More openness from casting directors, directors and producers towards me being able to comprehend and convey a three-dimensional character in spite of young age and attractive looks." (Dean 2011) Perhaps my inquiry could provide an answer to what casting directors want and whether or not they saw teaching experience as a positive thing when applying for work. With reference to my intended inquiry topic could teaching impede the opportunity to perform from a casting director’s perspective? So this feedback helped me to shape where my investigations could reach and what may potentially strengthen my argument. I was compelled to see the importance of this and see how a cross section of individuals could provide insight and perhaps find a correlation between this and their employment success.
In conclusion this report provided me with a great template in which to form my interview, survey and focus group format and demonstrates what a well planned and thought-out
project can produce.
Deborah Dean. (2011). ‘CHANGING GENDER PORTRAYAL: PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE PERFORMING ARTS’. Available: http://www.equity.org.uk/committees/women-s-committee-2011-2013/documents/fia-report-on-performers-employment/. Last accessed 24.11.11
The fourth piece of literature I have chosen to review is a report based on research from International Federation of Actors (FIA) an international non-governmental organisation representing performers’ trade unions, guilds and associations around the world.
The first thing that I noticed when reading this report was the way in which the data was displayed in an easy to read manner, clear and concise. The purpose of this document was to research the disadvantages in employment older women performers in particular compared to male performers experienced. It was apparent that a lot of preparation had gone into sourcing the information within this document reaching right across the EU.
Although this document is very specific with its intentions to look at gender equality I believe much of the findings attempting "to form a picture of the realities of working as a performer in Europe and in particular to collect data on the perceived effects of a performer’s age, gender and other social identities on their access to employment. Centrally, does ageing affect access to jobs, content of jobs, pay and career longevity differently depending on a performer’s gender?" (Dean 2011) provides great insight. For me the collection of data for this report showed how much the perceptions of others could provide vital knowledge and insight into ways in perhaps improvements within the performance sector could be made. I felt the collection of such mass data provided a great example of how data compiled can provide concise answers to establish areas for improvement. Looking at this report I was able to see a great example of how opinions from professionals within the performing arts industry could potentially benefit other aspiring professionals. One comment when respondents were asked "What would improve employment opportunities for you?" (Dean 2011) really stood out to me and I felt could hold much relevance for my inquiry. One answer to this question wanted "More openness from casting directors, directors and producers towards me being able to comprehend and convey a three-dimensional character in spite of young age and attractive looks." (Dean 2011) Perhaps my inquiry could provide an answer to what casting directors want and whether or not they saw teaching experience as a positive thing when applying for work. With reference to my intended inquiry topic could teaching impede the opportunity to perform from a casting director’s perspective? So this feedback helped me to shape where my investigations could reach and what may potentially strengthen my argument. I was compelled to see the importance of this and see how a cross section of individuals could provide insight and perhaps find a correlation between this and their employment success.
In conclusion this report provided me with a great template in which to form my interview, survey and focus group format and demonstrates what a well planned and thought-out
project can produce.
Deborah Dean. (2011). ‘CHANGING GENDER PORTRAYAL: PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE PERFORMING ARTS’. Available: http://www.equity.org.uk/committees/women-s-committee-2011-2013/documents/fia-report-on-performers-employment/. Last accessed 24.11.11
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