Are the Oscars going to introduce gender-neutral categories?

Over the years, the non-sexist categories of interpretation at the awards ceremonies.

In 2012, the ‘Grammys’ eliminated gender categoriesallowing men and women to compete against each other for all the awards, under titles such as “Best Performer.”

Other awards shows have eliminated their gender categories to champion inclusivity, including the MTV Movie & TV Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Gotham Awards, and the BRIT Awards, which introduced gender-neutral awards. gender to be “even more inclusive, recognizing exceptional work rather than how artists identify.”

Now, in an attempt to be more inclusive of gender non-conforming performers, there have been renewed calls for the Oscars to introduce gender-neutral awards, merging male and female nominations into single categories of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Currently, the Academy Acting Awards are divided into men’s categories (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor) and feminine (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress).

In a new interview granted to ‘Variety‘, Academy CEO Bill Kramer was asked about the possibility of creating gender-neutral categories. He confirmed that talks are ongoing.

“We are exploring this topic with our awards, membership, equity and inclusion committees and soon with our Board of Governors,” he said.

“It’s one of many conversations about the future of the awards and the Oscars. We’re still exploring what that might look like.”

Is it a right decision for the Oscars?

In 2021, the Berlin Film Festival became the first major international film festival in go for gender neutrality in his acting awards.

Berlinale co-director Mariette Rissenbeek stated at the time that the decision to have genderless awards was intended to spark more debate around gender justice, and the decision was welcomed by screen stars such as Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton , the latter stating that the Berlinale’s decision to relegate the genre acting awards to history was “eminently sensible” and that it was “inevitable” that genderless awards would become the standard throughout the film industry.

While for some Swinton’s word is gospel, there has been some back and forth on this matter.

There are those who believe that separating awards by gender perpetuates the stereotype that men and women cannot be evaluated as equals in their professions.

Additionally, gender-separated awards perpetuate the notion that gender is binary, as transgender performer Elliot Page stated to ‘Entertainment Weekly‘ last year, saying about the Oscars: “I hope we begin to overcome that degree of binary thinking“.

However, there are those who argue that this change results in two fewer categories for performers to win, which represents the risk of lost opportunities. Actress and director Sarah Polley declared a ‘The New York Times‘ last year that, since There are not the same opportunities in the industry between men and womenthe inclusion of all categories may lead to a greater imbalance.

In fact, although there is no gender distinction in directing awards, gender-neutral acting awards may seem like a forward-thinking decision.

Problems to solve before making the decision

However, an unintended consequence of eliminate gender-specific categories is that the general sections imply fewer statuettes, which reduces the potential for visibility. Fewer deserving artists may be pre-selected and the removal of barriers may inadvertently reinforce women’s institutional disadvantages, for example.

Gender-neutral awards can be considered socially progressive and help transgender and non-binary artistsbut the problem goes beyond the awards.

The film industry is an uneven playing field, still plagued by institutional sexism, which favors cisgender men in leading roles. As men continue to have more opportunities to play leading roles, it’s only a matter of time before all of a year’s acting awards go to male performers.

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It’s not hard to imagine the possible justified protests, such as when the ‘BRIT awards’ introduced an Artist of the Year category as a gender-neutral replacement for the Best Male and Best Female categories, and the five nominees in 2023 They turned out to be men. Something that in 2024 it has changed radically.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that, although they are an important part of the process in their own right, awards are just the brilliant final step, and equal opportunities must start earlier in the filmmaking process.

If gender-neutral awards can encourage debate and lead to meaningful changes, such as greater diversity in studios, funding institutions, and voting bodies, then they should be championed. Without deeper changes and conversations about the roots of the problemthere is a risk that gender-neutral awards will become mere virtue signaling.

For very How well-intentioned these possible changes for the Oscars arecinema as an industry needs a change that begins before the final stretch of the awards season.

The worst that could happen is that a film industry stubbornly dominated by men made changes that broke with tradition, congratulated itself with “we’ve got it figured out” and continued to marginalize women, transsexuals and non-binary actors in the early stages of decision-making and creation.

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