Acting gender: Actors’ experiences of gender role conformity and hopes for their characters.

What is it about?

This study investigates the extent to which actors are required to conform to traditional gender roles in the course of their work, and the difference between the characters they play and the characters they'd like to play. Male and female actors reported being required to portray traditional gender roles, but men were required to conform with these traditional notions of gender to a greater extent, resulting in the broadcast of a masculinized ideal. Both male and female actors indicated they would prefer to portray characters that conform less with traditional gender roles than their most recent character.

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Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Previous research has shown that acting has the potential to alter individuals' self-perception in line with their characters. When such alteration is towards increased conformity with traditional gender roles, this may serve as an obstacle towards achieving gender equity within the arts and, given the position successful actors hold as role models, outside of the arts. These findings support calls from audience-driven research for movement away from portraying traditional gender roles within the arts