This Year’s Oscars Nominations Are Woefully Male-Dominated

The Oscars aren't just so white — they're also so male, according to a new Women's Media Centre study. This imbalance in recognition is especially evident when you look at the people behind the camera. The analysis found that within the 19 non-acting categories, 80% of nominees are men, Variety reports. Every single nominee for Best Director is male. This problem is bigger than just the Oscars. Only 17% of the people behind the scenes of last year's highest-grossing films were women. And if you just look at directors, that number's 7%, according to a separate report by Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Nevertheless, several women did get the acknowledgement they deserve. For the first time, a Best Film Editing nomination went to a Black woman — Joi McMillan for Moonlight. In addition, 13th director Ava DuVernay got a best documentary nomination, Mica Levi snagged an original score nomination for Jackie, and nine women producers got best picture nominations. When it comes to racial diversity, the ceremony's doing a little better than last year, but still not good enough, with only seven actresses of colour receiving nominations. With all the great work women and people of colour have done on the past year's films, the Academy has no excuse not to diversify its nominations.