Special Reports

UCLA Study On Hollywood Gender Bias Has Reese Witherspoon Feeling Strongly About The Issue

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The voice behind Rosita in the animated movie titled "Sing" is none other than Reese Witherspoon. But she also uses her voice to raise an issue that has been plaguing the film industry for decades.

The "Sweet Home Alabama" actress has made it loud and clear that she has had enough of Hollywood gender bias. And her complaints are founded on a 2016 report created by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

According to the report, women in the American film industry is low in percentage and it continues to slip, as reported by Gulf News. The study further indicates that women were underrepresented in certain fields and they see no employment gains in Hollywood compared to their male counterparts.

Working in Hollywood for most of her life, Reese Witherspoon reacts to the gender bias issue. She wants the practice of handing "thankless roles" to actresses to stop.

Witherspoon wants to see the film industry feature real women. She uses domestic violence, motherhood and divorce as examples of real women's experiences. According to Montre Missouri, a film maker and associate professor at Howard University, the lack of women behind the camera also means the lack of women with speaking roles in front of the camera, as reported by The American Association of University Women.

Darnell Hunt, an author of the UCLA study, said that Hollywood is largely male dominated and they want to keep their jobs. Which is why female film makers find it difficult to break into the industry.

For director Lexi Alexander, she says that there is no lack of female directors in Hollywood. It is most likely that there is just a huge lack of people willing to give them a chance.

Witherspoon hopes that things will change. She is set to star in "Big Little Lies." This will be her first major television role and will air on Feb. 19.

Watch this Producers Guild of America clip where Reese Witherspoon addresses Hollywood's gender disparity:

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