Near the top of the Men’s Rights subreddit front page today: a post with 160 upvotes sporting the sarcastic title “Because male film directors (85% of total film directors) getting 87% of the funding is discrimination.”
The post is reference to the charge, made by feminist activists, that the fact that the Icelandic Film Centre — which funds and promotes Icelandic films — sends nearly 90% of their funding to men just might be evidence of discrimination against women.
Pshaw, the Men’s Rightsers contend, the Icelandic Film Centre is just being fair. Because, you see, 85% of Iceland’s film directors are men. So of course they should get roughly that percentage of the money.
Because, as Reddit MRAs (and evidently a lot of studio executives see it), women just aren’t cut out for the manly world of directing.
Indeed, in the minds of some Reddit MRAs, filmmaking ability is tied to one’s possession of a penis much in the same way that baby-having ability is tied to ones’ possession of a womb. Mocking the faux quiz in the billboard above, one commenter writes:
Another commenter suggests that the feminists need to stop their whining, because evidently in the imaginary world in which he lives money only goes to those who truly deserve it — at least as long as neither the government or criminals are involved. (Never mind that the whole point of the Icelandic Film Centre is to give government money to filmmakers.)
Another helpful fellow suggest that women shouldn’t worry about the fact that he overwhelming majority of directing jobs go to men because, hey, non-film-directing women can always resort to lady jobs like nursing, or art curating, or, you know prostitution!
Problem solved! And all it took was a little bit of male ingenuity. Give yourself a hand, fellas!
“The reason I’m punching you is because 100% of the people I’m punching are you, so that proves I should be punching you”
What confuses me is why a billboard in Iceland is in English. Or is it like those English signs protestors haul around to get the message out to foreign media?
Also I take offense to the concept that only women can provide sexual pleasure for a mutually-acceptable fee and and eye to discretion. That is prejudice itself.
Most people in Iceland are bi-lingual, speaking both Icelandic and English. A lot of the signs around Reykjavik are in English.
I find it extremely hard to believe that 100% of that 85% of men deserved 2% more than their women peers.
Although I’m sure they would have something hateful to say about this, I would like to inform these MRAs that women don’t in fact have 100% of babies, because trans men, agender people and other identifying individuals also have children.
I’m sure they will give themselves a hand, at least once a day every day.
Hm, of those four professions where women dominate, I have to question whether two of them are “dominated” by women.
At least in the UK, art curators are 60% menhttps://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/artgallerycurator.aspx .
And as for who “dominates” the prostitution industry, well that would be the prostitutors, I’d say. I know that prostitution is a $186 billion dollar a year racket, and I know it’s not well-paying overall for its lower-echelon workers, that is, prostitutes, http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/prostitutionfacts.html. But I can’t seem to locate figures on the percentage of women procurers, pimps, brothel owners, and others who actually dominate prostitution, as that little asshole quoted in the post claims.
…wow…and he even managed to insult all us nurses…because clearly LadyJobs (even ones that require degrees like…art curating and nursing) are So Easy A Caveman Could Do it! (but he wont, cause he’s a manly manly man)
I just gave me friend £10 because he was out of pocket. As far as I’m aware neither a criminal mastermind nor David Cameron were involved at the time.
@Misha LOL!
Government grants are money that’s been given. That’s what a grant is.
I wonder what, besides actress are the jobs they think women are capable of doing? I’m guessing costumer. What else?
One could reasonably argue that the funding distribution isn’t discriminatory by design, but rather reflects the effects of a gender-biased field. However, it then becomes reasonable to ask if government funds, in particular, shouldn’t be used in part to correct existing biases in the market, to help end the effects of past discrimination. (In other words, award a disproportionate amount to movies with women directors, so that studios will be more likely to hire women directors for their films.)
Matt_Why…proof, once more, that Menz Rightz Libbertigibbertarians don’t brain gud.
Matt_Why:
He truly doesn’t understand modern filmmaking if he thinks it operates only on accountability, creativity, and work ethic.
When there are an equal number of women making “creative” films like the cinematic geniuses Michael Bay and Brett Rattner (and if they can still have careers and million dollar salaries after they dump their repetitive “genius” on the world), they will have truly arrived in that industry.
The sign is part of an art festival, and by a visiting artist, which is why it’s in English rather than Icelandic.
Hin ástæðan er sú að við vitum að enginn annar skilur þetta furðumál okkar. Ef maður ætlar að skapa umræðu þarf að ná út fyrir landsteinana.
(No, I will not apologise for that.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Guy-Blach%C3%A9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatma_Begum
http://www.raindance.org/the-25-best-films-directed-by-female-film-directors/
Yep. No good lady film directors. Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along ya looky-Lous.
I’d like to recommend American Mary, directed by the Soska sisters.
I’m also sure plenty of dudebros who think women can’t direct liked Michelle Maclaren’s Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad episodes without even realizing that they were tainted by feeemale cooties.
WWTH,
YES! So much YES!
We have quoted Beatress so many times here.
Clearly respec is earn.
Y’all are fuuuunny!????
Okay, so…
Let’s look at the industries he claims are “female dominated”.
1)Nursing. A caring profession, respected but lower status than doctors, who until this generation were typically men. Long hours, high risk of on-the-job injury* and also getting shit on you. Literally.
2) Fashion. I don’t know if he means designing–which has quite a few men it it, certainly more than 15%, especially at the highest levels–or modeling, which also has men. Fashion modeling, to be blunt, is a terrible job. Sometimes you get paid in clothes, even if you are naturally thin you probably have to starve yourself to get the look the designer wants, and the industry is rife with sexual abuse. If you can make it big, it works, but if not…
3) Art curating. I don’t know what the fuck he was thinking, but I’m don’t know enough about this to touch. I don’t even know how female-dominated this is–the art world itself is pretty male-dominated.
4) Prostitution. *Sigh* A low-status job that threatens your ability to get any other job later (because stigma) and also exposes you to high risk of violence, police arrest (and violence), a criminal record (and inability to get other jobs).
So out of 4, we have 1 industry I don’t know enough about to even tell if he’s right and 3 that are dangerous, two that are sexualized, one is illegal, and none of which are nearly as high status or high paying as directing movies.
Hmm… seems to be a pattern. It almost like he couldn’t find a job dominated by women equivalent in status and pay to directing, almost like jobs associated with women tend to be low-status, low-pay, and sexualized.
* I heard a NPR report about a pioneering VA initiative to reduce injuries to hospital nurses by making sure all patient-lifting was done by machine. That is is pioneering should give you an idea of what you can expect in other hospitals.
I’m sorry, but there are a small, but non-negligible number of men who give birth. I haven’t looked at the numbers, but it’s probably closer to 99.9% of babies are birthed to women.
Side note: I now want to see a version of the “Not of woman borne” trope where, instead of caesarian section, the person is borne of a transman.
I wonder how these guys feel about Lana Wachowski because of the frequent references to The Matrix? (I’m guessing most would refuse to acknowledge she’s a woman)
I doubt that they’d be happy that one of the creator’s who coined the term “red pill” is a woman.