Abstract

This chapter examines gender dynamics in cultural industries. In particular the focus is on gender and cultural producers. In almost all the subsections of the cultural industries, from the audio-visual industry through to digital design, women are underrepresented in the most prestigious and creative roles (see for example Gill 2002). In the main women are consigned to lower paid roles and struggle to access roles with prestige and respect attached to them. This is certainly the case in the United Kingdom, as many sector and university research projects have emphasised (Skillset ¹ 2010a, Richards and Milestone 2000, Haines 2004). These trends are found elsewhere such as in the USA (Christopherson 2008) and Australia (Akuma and Barnes 2009). There are other intersectional inequalities in terms of access to the cultural industries that are based on ethnicity, class, sexuality and disability. However, for the purpose of this chapter we keep our focus solely on gender.