Under exposed: Qualitative exploration of the inequality, ill treatment, and powerlessness of actresses

Abstract

Recent media attention has highlighted the harassment of women within the acting industry, yet the industry’s organisational culture is under-researched. This research therefore aims to understand how actresses perceive the acting industry’s organisational culture. Individual, semi-structured interviews were held with six professional performers. Semantic thematic analysis guided analysis of the data. Participants indicated three major themes that captured certain peculiarities of the acting industry: (1) an inequitable environment; (2) the normalisation of ill treatment; (3) powerlessness. Participants described a largely imbalanced and unregulated industry, characterised by unhealthy processes. Based on the present study’s findings, the researchers suggest that there should be an organisational body responsible for preventing actresses’ exploitation, and gender-parity at all levels, inclusive of pay. In addition, robust, ethical recruitment processes would eradicate the prevalence of ill treatment, whilst the safeguarding of individuals should be introduced within education and the workplace.