Genre, gender and television screenwriting: The problem of pigeonholing. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnson, Beth; Peirse, Alison
• Other Names: Alacovska Ana guest-editor.; O'Brien Dave guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: European journal of cultural studies. Volume 24:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 658
• Page End: 672
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Children's television -- feminist television criticism -- genre -- screen production studies -- screenwriting -- soap opera; Culture -- Periodicals; Culture -- Popular -- Periodicals; Culture -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Cross-cultural studies -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1177/13675494211006089
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-5494

Abstract

This article draws on the 2018 Writers Guild of Great Britain report 'Gender Inequality and Screenwriters', and original interviews with female screenwriters, to assess how the experience of genre plays out in the UK television industry. The report focuses on the experience of women, as a single category, but we aim to reveal a more intersectional understanding of their experiences. Our aim is to better understand the ways in which women are, according to the report, consistently 'pigeonholed by genre and are unable to move from continuing drama or children's programming to prime-time drama, comedy or light-entertainment'. Considering the cultural value of genre in relation to screenwriting labour and career progression, we analyse how genre shapes career trajectory, arguing that social mobility for female screenwriters is inherently different and unequal to that of their male counterparts.