Feel like burying yourself in a pit of despair about the state of female representation? Then we've got some bad news - things don't seem to be getting any better.
Danielle Sepulveres is an actress and writer. In fact, she has written for ELLE US about realising both she and her ex-boyfriend's other girlfriend were the 'other woman'.
She knows, perhaps more keenly than most of us, that the world of acting has a huge problem when it comes to female representation. Be it scarce roles for actresses over 40, the pay gap between genders or the woeful discrepancy between their actual lines (potentially due, in part, to the rarity of female writers) - being an actress leaves you increasingly narrow options.
And that's before you've got to the the two-dimensional characters.
So offensive are some of the scripts for actresses that a Twitter page, 'Sexist Casting Calls,' was set up to record the worst.
Last week, Sepulveres was sent a particularly obnoxious call. It read: 'Hi hello can I draw your attention for a min to these casting notices for women characters. RATE: NONE '
The four unpaid (first offence) female roles detail some of the most vacant, desperate and terrible depictions of women we have ever read.
Some of the highlights include:
All of their physical attributes. Their desire for attention. The word 'obedient' being mentioned. Validation from men. All of their two-dimensional neuroses. Having to note that someone 'knows how to move' because, hopefully they all do. Heather actually manifesting herself as sex, opposed to enjoying it or having it, she simply is it.
Sepulveres told the HuffPost why she chose to post this specific call out on social media, considering she receives them almost everyday.
'These seemed particularly ridiculous to me,' she quite rightly explained.
She continues:
I have seen many descriptions of women characters in this vein before, but this seemed to take it to another level. It was hilariously depressing to me that these descriptions existed.
Sepulveres thinks that this is so shocking because we are actually seeing more diversely represented females on our screens:
There are roles for women where they are the superheroes, or the anti-heroes or even just multi-faceted, interesting, flawed and fun to watch. [Like] Issa Rae, Shonda Rimes, Jennie Snyder Urman, Mindy Kaling [and] Nahnatchka Khan.
But we clearly haven't come far enough, so what's the solution?
It's likely [the writer] has no idea how these descriptions actually sound, and maybe this will make the next person dig a little deeper and I don't know...actually meet a woman or two? Before writing them into their fictional work.
Sounds like solid advice.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
