By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 12 years ago

White men win big at the Emmys

A white dude.

The Primetime Emmys aired last night, and it was another big win for white dudes (and not just because of the appearance of every feminist’s favorite person, Charlie Sheen). Out of 25 categories presented last night white guys won all the individual awards that weren’t in lady-only categories (they swept writer/director awards but failed to capture Best Supporting Actress).

Awards like those for the best Comedy and Drama are given out to writing or producing teams, and a few women managed to make it on stage there. However, all the winning teams had men billed first, and on teams of 10-15ish people there were typically about 2 women.

Racialicious has a breakdown of the Emmy numbers by race, and those are even worse. While the occasional person of color managed to make it to the stage for a team win, people of color were the solo winner of zero awards last night. The list of 208 total Emmy nominees (including in categories not broadcast last night) included only 13 people of color.

These numbers are not surprising. After all, white dudes directed 77% of all TV episodes last year, so it’s not like there were a lot of women to choose from.

TV tends to do a better job than movies of representing women and people of color, if only because there’s more of it. The medium allows for programming targeted at smaller audiences, which means you can actually have shows geared at female and POC viewers. Blockbuster movies tend to be made for the one audience Hollywood understands: men obsessed with toys and video games from their childhood. Yet the people being recognized for making TV are still incredibly overwhelmingly white and male.

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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