Comic-Con under fire for not featuring enough female panelists

Charlize Theron on a panel during last year’s Comic-Con edition. According to a recent survey done by Comic-Con organizers on attendees, they have struck at least a partial gender balance with “54 per cent identifying as male, 44 per cent as female and 2 per cent as other,” noted Variety. “It is inclusive,” reiterated David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s chief communications and strategy officer. “I think we’re seeing a lot more women at the show than ever before, in terms of fans and attendees.”However, Comic-Con has a serious problem when it comes to female representation on their panels, particularly in Hall H, the most high-profile stage in the event that accommodates 6500 audience members. As Variety noted in a new story that looked at panelists between 2013 to 2017, “just 29 per cent of the 1,061 panelists were women. Only 14 non-actor women appeared on panels promoting television shows and only 10 on panels promoting films.” Gal Gadot & Chris Pine present Wonder Woman at Comic-Con, circa 2016.Defending the panel composition, David Glanzer told the publication, “If in Hall H there’s a movie, and the movie is female-centric, and 75 per cent of the cast is female and 25 per cent of the cast is male, but the panel is only 25 per cent female, that would be a concern for us. What is the reflection of the movies represented? If the cast is 75 per cent male, then one would expect you would have more males on that panel.” Kirsten Schaffer, executive director of Women in Film, Los Angeles, disagreed. Speaking about the Hall H programming at Comic-Con she said that it is ‘not representative’. “Schaffer points to data from San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, which found that 37 per cent of all major characters in the top 100 grossing movies of 2017 were played by women. In 2017 television series, women accounted for 42 per cent of all major roles,” noted Variety. “I think the studios and networks need to be more thoughtful about that, and look at their panels and see if they are inclusive of gender, race, disability,” Schaffer said. “In this moment, when the top people might not be inclusive, I think they should be bringing other people onto the panels that are more representative.”She added: “The number of women in front of and behind the camera in television are higher than they are in movies. I do think the influx of TV has helped increase the number of women at Comic-Con.”Angela Robinson, who is a writer on The L Word and True Blood, and the writer and director of the feature film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, agreed with Kirsten Schaffer and noted, “I think the programming reflects the same sorry state of Hollywood and gaming and most of the media.” – With information from Variety.com

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