Gender neutral, the way forward

What’s common between Emma Watson, Hugh Jackman, Taraji P Henson and James McAvoy? They are, without a doubt, exceptional actors. MTV sees that, and it decided to scrap gender-specific categories – meaning, male and female actors will now compete in one single category for honours. While the move seems progressive on paper, at a time when the fight for gender representation is under, is it really?

For Mysuru-born filmmaker who showcased her short film at the Cannes, Anvita Sudarshan, gender neutral awards are the way to go. “We might feel like we’re running backwards for a while, if one gender ends up taking home most of the awards. But that’s the point. Gender inequality exists at the societal level. The problem of women being under-represented is not a superficial problem that can be solved at the awards level. It is a deep rooted issue that needs to be tackled at the societal level. And yes, that might take more time, but the effects will definitely last longer,” she says.

Parul Yadav, who recently won the Best Actress award at the IIFA Utsavam for her role in Ram Gopal Varma’s Killing Veerappan feels strongly about it too. “Even in English grammar both female and male performers are just called ‘actors’, so it’s high time we put an end to the distinction. Whether it is Indira Nooyi, Theresa May and Angela Merkel or films like Queen, Mary Kom and Kahani termed as ‘women-centric’, they’ve broken the myth that women can’t break the glass ceiling. I’m not sure if it’ll work in India, but it’s a fabulous first step for award ceremonies,” she says.  

Seperate categories for men and women have often struck many as sexist since either’s gender has nothing to do with their ability to put up a brilliant performance. There’s another reason why it’s outdated: not all people identify as male or female. This discussion comes at a time when the issue of separate male and female acting awards is generating much discussion.
Recently, Asia Kate Dillon, who identifies as gender non-binary, wrote a letter to Emmy Awards organisers after they asked which of the best actor or actress categories the Billions star would prefer to be included in. “As a gender non-binary person I think this practice that MTV is trying to implement only works once we have a post gender world,” opines award-winning filmmaker, Natasha Mendonca. “In its attempt to be the holy hipster kingdom of television, I think MTV may be getting ahead of itself. Patriarchal image making can't pay lip service to the fight for equality across race, gender, class and caste. Until and unless there are enough people from the 'other' category not only in the jury but in the day-to-day functioning of MTV across the world it makes absolutely no sense to remove the gender category,” notes the visual artiste who co-founded Larzish – India’s first international film and video film festival on sexuality and gender based in Mumbai.

For musicians singer-songwriter and actor Suman Sridhar the whole problem with the gender debate is reducing it to a false binary social construct. “Transgender, intersex, gender queer etc. get left out within the male/female binary. It is time we humanise ourselves and eliminate all categories. Then perhaps we can start winning awards for our material actions instead of our social identities,” she says.