A few days ago, one of our large signator studios asked for the following data:
2,952 members (active and applying)
2,449 male = 83%
503 female = 17%
We've rolled out similar statistics before. They haven't changed much in recent years.
When I joined this organization in 1977, there was a higher proportion of women in the ranks. Most worked in ink-and-paint and checking classifications.
Now, of course, there are almost no i & p slots in union studios, and few women work in other areas.
The thoughts and observations of the leaders of The Animation Guild (TAG), Local 839 IATSE. Jason MacLeod is the Business Representative, KC Johnson is the President. Mike Sauer is Assistant to the Business Representative.
This weblog reflects their individual personal opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the Animation Guild.
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6 comments:
So here's a question... at the studio where I work, the male-to-female animator ratio is pretty much the same as the average mentioned above. However, those few ladies are all kick ass animators. Is there a tendency to only keep the top women at studios? What I mean is, if there was a layoff, would the mediocre women get let go before the mediocre men?
Me, I'm curious about the gender ratio on applications for animation positions. Is it 50/50, or is it closer to the 83/17 male/female ratio above?
Re applications: The Animation Guild has no data on who applies for jobs. The studios would have that.
As to whether "average" women get let go before "average" men, I don't know about that, either.
I have my own ideas about why the ratio is what it is, but will keep them to myself. (I think it's a combination of things, actually.)
I'm a female artist so I'll put in my guess to the low number of women. And it is just a guess based on what I've seen and heard and my own feelings about this business. Basically, if a woman starts having kids, there is no way she can work the 12 hour days plus weekends often required. A lot of the guys that I work with met their wives on the job. They started families and now they can't both be working those kinds of hours. There's more to it of course but that's just one practical aspect.
I am contemplating this issue you raised of women dropping out when they have babies, Anonymous, and thinking of all the working single mothers who manage to support their children, facing the harsh reality that no spouse is there to help them... no "both" that your refer to, just one paycheck. The mother is often left to raise the children alone, without child support or emotional support or any support. We are ready, willing to work because we need to work to support these children, it's not an option, it's a necessity.
Women have been needing "good" jobs for centuries, and these statistics about the animation industry are just disheartening. Women continue to cope, manage raising children in poverty, and contine to be marginalized by the industries and institutions such as we see in these statistics.
I understand your view, about women going off and having babies, but I see life outside the comfortable box of the dual parent nuclear family.
We are not denied jobs because we have babies. We are marginalized because we exist outside the fraternity of the male as the creative lead in the culture of the places that hire and promote artists. We, skilled artists, female, some married some single women ( some raising babies alone ) want these jobs dearly and have proven our skills repeatedly, but the statistics don't budge because people on the inside cannot let of the old school way of doing business and need to keep the club intact, courting favors and scratching each others backs. Women artists are the outsiders. The guys are basically hiring people they feel most comfortable with, want to hang out with in the close knit submarine of production for a year or two. They are usually more comfortable with another dude. If a woman does well in a top animator gig she is called "one of the guys" Dinner invitations continue to go out to
"the Animators and their Wives." Even though women have proven their ability and skill and commitment to the jobs, it will continue to be rare to find women in lead creative art positions under the jurisdiction of the Animation Guild.
Single professional women raising babies alone need these jobs Single mothers often are willing to work two low paying jobs, double shifts 14 to 18 hours a day. The children suffer more if there is no income. Women have been shouldering this responsibility with courage strength and dignity since the beginning of the species.
Usually in a divorce the mother becomes the custodial parent.
Here is an interesting statistic, compare this statistic to the union employment numbers.
What's the "average" single parent really like? According to the U.S. Census Bureau...
She is a Mother:
* Approximately 84% of custodial parents are mothers, and
* 16% of custodial parents are fathers.
In 2008, 28.7 percent of households headed by single women were poor, while 13.8 percent of households headed by single men and 5.5 percent of married-couple households lived in poverty
( source http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/#4
In this economic situation, it seems like finacial suicide to have kids.
Why are all these single mothers, well, single? Shouldnt the deadbeat dads be financialy resposible? or be forced to take responsibility?
Anyway, it seems women are simply not interested in the animation industry. Very few are. Most go to college, to take other carrers, meet someone, and leave school.
The same situation happens in the sciences. Scientific American had an article on this subject as well.
I very much would like the numbers to be more even. Too many single dudes in the studio....
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