The Issue of Gender Neutrality
Gender-neutral awards may not be a problem for someone as successful as Cate Blanchett, but that doesn’t mean they’re a good idea
When Cate Blanchett was recently asked about “gender-neutral” awards she said that she endorses the idea because she’s always thought of herself as an actor and not an actress. She’s quoted in the Guardian as saying: “I am of the generation where the word actress was used almost always in a pejorative sense. So I claim the other space.”
It is, of course, Blanchett’s prerogative to call herself whatever she likes, but the matter of fact is she is an actress since actress means “a woman whose profession is acting on stage, in films, or on television”.
There are two separate issues here:
- The idea of gender neutrality is inherently male-centric.
- Blanchett, by eschewing the title of actress, endorses the idea that actress is a pejorative term.
Gender Neutrality Is Not Neutral So Long as the Default Is Male
Looking as far back as the beginning of the women’s rights movement, we can find the endorsement of the idea that the goal is to allow women access to a male-dominated space without making…
