Tits out for production value

Anna Lyons examines why onscreen nudity is an issue for actresses breaking into the industry

If you have ever turned on your TV a minute past the watershed, there is a high chance you’ve come face to face with onscreen nudity — most likely female. Yet, in order to fully understand the issue of female onscreen nudity, particularly with new female actors, we have to recognise the power dynamics that exist within the film industry.

Women in Hollywood earn, on average, $1 million less than their male counterparts for similar roles, and men make up 78% of directors. Movies are being made by predominantly white, heterosexual, middle-aged men. As a result of this drastic inequality, problems arise. Fewer female writers, editors, cinematographers and composers are being hired in the film production process. Fewer female voices and opinions are being heard. This massive gap in female representation has acted as a breeding ground for issues regarding sexism, sexual harassment and abuse.

In the American film industry, 94% of women have experienced sexual harassment or assault, spanning from unwelcome comments, jokes or gestures, to being touched sexually and being shown sexual pictures. As well as that, 21% have reported being forced to do a sexual act, and 10% have been ordered to appear naked for auditions. These issues have often translated onto the big screen, especially through how the female nude is presented.

In the top films in 2018, 25% of female actors involved had nude scenes, while only 9% of men were shown nude, and it has been shown that women in leading roles were four times more likely to be shown nude than male leads.”

The way the female body is viewed in most films is fundamentally different from the way the male body is represented. In the top films in 2018, 25% of featured female actors had nude scenes, while only 9% of men were shown nude. It has been shown that women in leading roles were four times more likely to be shown nude than male leads. The issue of being pressured to be nude on screen is prevalent among many female actors, but it is especially commonplace for women new to the industry.

After recently finishing the series, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke gave insight into just how bad this problem is for women starting out in the industry. In an Armchair Expert podcast, Clarke spoke openly about the pressure HBO put her under to do nude scenes in the early seasons of Game of Thrones. She said that part of the reason she agreed to the “f*** tonne” of nude scenes in Season 1 was because she was new to the industry, having never been on set before, and was looking to get a name for herself. Clarke was told that she would be disappointing fans if she didn’t go through with certain explicit scenes. She was afraid to speak out about her discomfort and would instead tell herself, “whatever I’m feeling is wrong; I’m gonna go cry in the bathroom, and then I’m gonna come back, and we’re gonna do the scene — it’s gonna be completely fine.” The actor now has to face the fact that some people only see her for her sex scenes and not for her talent: “The last time that I was naked on camera [on Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman,” Clarke stated in an article for Vanity Fair. “And it’s annoying as hell, and I’m sick and tired of it, because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God’s sake.”

In comparing your everyday heroine to the typical hero, it is evident that women are sexualised much more than men. We constantly see the sexualised female trope when it comes to women in powerful roles: Wonder Woman, Cleopatra, and Madonna. Why can’t we let women be powerful without sexualising them? Meghan Markle has spoken out about this issue before. She noticed that when filming Suits, “every script seemed to begin with ‘Rachel wearing a towel’”, which led her to question why her character, an ambitious lawyer, should be portrayed as having such a sexual demeanour.

We shouldn’t be looking to give actors, especially new female ones, enough power and credibility to speak up against these distressing situations; we shouldn’t be putting them in these situations in the first place.”

Markle had the power to have the script changed, but unfortunately, this is not the case for many aspiring female actors who are pressured to go through scenes that make them feel uncomfortable. In her latest production, Emilia Clarke praises her experienced male co-star Jason Momoa for speaking out when she was put in uncomfortable situations, like being left in the freezing cold, naked, in between scenes. These issues can be seen as a direct result of power imbalances within the industry. Meghan Markle and Jason Momoa could assert themselves in the aforementioned productions, but it wasn’t until Emilia Clarke had gotten a name for herself as a credible actor that she felt comfortable doing the same. We shouldn’t be looking to give actors, especially new female ones, enough power and credibility to speak up against these distressing situations; we shouldn’t be putting them in these situations in the first place.

The industry has made some essential improvements recently. In the past five years, after the Harvey Weinstein revelations and the growth of the #MeToo movement, we have seen the introduction of Intimacy Coordinators, whose role is to ensure the well-being of actors during sex scenes. However, it has been highlighted by intimacy coordinators such as Ita O’Brien that hiring a coordinator is often just a “box-ticking exercise for the producers”. The introduction of intimacy coordinators has been met with mixed reactions. Some actors, such as Game of Thrones actor Sean Bean, have criticised the introduction of Intimacy Coordination as disrupting “the natural ways lovers behave.” Some actors take on the opposite opinion, such as Emma Thompson, who has praised this addition to filming crews. Thompson has highlighted the fact that there is nothing natural about filming a sex scene in front of an entire film production crew, which is frequently mainly made up of men. However, the work of Intimacy Coordinators can only go so far. As Ita O’Brien mentions, when trying to fight for simple adjustments such as gender parity during sex scenes, she has been met with responses like “we’ll have none of it” from production crews.

“Why do new female actors feel as though their career could be at risk if they don’t agree to distressing scenes and roles? The role of Intimacy Officers is a crucial one, and could set us on the path to solving this issue.”

Certain questions must be posed in order to fully combat the ongoing issue of the sexualisation of new and vulnerable actors. Why should a female actor have to be in a position of power before speaking out against discomfort on set? Why do new female actors feel as though their careers could be at risk if they don’t agree to distressing scenes and roles? The role of Intimacy Officers is a crucial one, and could set us on the path to solving this issue. Would women on set feel safer if studios took the role of the Intimacy Officer more seriously — if the Intimacy Officer was able to speak up without feeling like their job too is at risk?

Ultimately, gender equality across all levels of the film production process could change the situation for the better. Female actors need to feel as though they are in a safe space to speak out openly about their discomforts, regardless of how experienced they are in the industry. How can we expect actors to thrive in their profession if they are constantly sexualised? How can we expect women to feel comfortable filming sex scenes if the crew filming them consists of all men? How can we expect people employed with the safety of actors in mind to fulfil their position if they too are made to feel as though their role is an illegitimate one? As O’Brien outlines, if we want to see intimacy on our screens, then “there is a long way to go to really, to truly believe that we’ve got an industry where people can speak up and be safe to deliver good work.”

Anna Lyons

Anna Lyons is the Sex and Relationships Editor at Trinity News and is currently in her Senior Sophister Year studying Law and Business.