Female Animators
- yas
- Mar 29, 2019
- 2 min read
Why Do We Lack Female Animators;
From the first ever animation project in 1908, everyone involved were men and during that time it was not at all uncommon to lack women in the industry (Brewer, 2018). It was hard for women to take part in any profession nevertheless the new revolutionary animating industry (Brewer, 2018). But unfortunately the shortage of women then, only resulted in the same course of events now (Brewer, 2018). It is important for young girls to know that they are open to any occupation they would want to take part in, and to do so more women in the industry are required to be publicly spoken of (Brewer, 2018).
Some other reasons for the lower ratio of women to men is the variety of careers available, for example jobs revolving around CGI, FX artists and such are majorly subjugated by men (Simensky, n.d.). therefore, this disparity has affected us and caused the daunting idea of how girls and boys should be separated even within careers (Brewer, 2018).
[Figure 1]
The First Ever Female Animator;
Lilian Friedman Astor was the first female animator to work in major American studios, she was celebrated at the 1987 Golden Awards Banquet for her services and unionism in the screen cartooning industry even though she had only worked in the industry for less than 10 years (Deneroff, 2016).
[Figure 2]
Lilian worked on various cartoon characters, but before that she would only work on drawings and designing them, she is in fact responsible for creating the smooth illusion of movement by applying intermediate drawings between two images (Deneroff, 2016). Friedman started with simply inking until her talent was recognized by Shamus Culhane and was given the title of animator but only in “secret”, then eventually she started animating some of her best work such as, Betty Boop and Popeye (Deneroff, 2016).
[Figure 3]
[Figure 4]
Personal Reflection;
Going into animation I am being introduced to various different animating methods and all sorts of techniques that build up to the actual animating, and as a new comer with very few previous experiences I often feel discouraged to go on. But knowing that the hard work will pay off and seeing the amazing work that these animators have made inspires me.
References;
[Figure 4] BETTY BOOP JEWISH ROOTS. (n.d.). [image] Retrieved (25/3/2019) from https://rabbibarbara.com/betty-boop-jewish-roots/
Brewer, J. (2018, March 8). Why is there a lack of women in animation, and what can we do about it?. [online] Nice That. Retrieved (25/3/2019) from https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/why-is-there-a-lack-of-women-in-animation-internationalwomensday-080318
Deneroff, H. (2016, March 28). A Chat with Lillian Friedman Astor |. [online] Cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved (25/3/2019) from http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-chat-with-lillian-friedman-astor/
[Figure 2] Deneroff, H. (2016, March 28). A Chat with Lillian Friedman Astor |. [image] Cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved (25/3/2019) from http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-chat-with-lillian-friedman-astor/
[Figure 3] Ganesh, V. (n.d.). Lillian Friedman (Astor). [image] Retrieved (25/3/2019) from https://simplebooklet.com/publish.php?wpKey=gPCZQqOfXEhBatYzN7As7S#page=2
Simensky, L. (n.d.). Women in the Animation Industry--Some Thoughts. [online] Awn.com. Retrieved (25/3/2019) from https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.2/articles1.2/simensky1.2.html
[Figure 1] Volk, S. (2018, April 16). Less is More: Low-Stakes Assessments and Student Success. [image] Retrieved (25/3/2019) from http://languages.oberlin.edu/blogs/ctie/2018/04/15/less-is-more-low-stakes-assessments-and-student-success/
Really interesting information here, it is really nice to k ow how it was for women in animation back then, I believe currently it’s the opposite, more women and in animation and that’s good too :)
It is really inspiring!
The disparity is also more likely to be a difference in interests? I feel like that’s the answer, this doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just a matter of showing interest, I guess.
The blog gives an insight on the female work in animation and how their work is important in the animation industry. Well done!!
This blog post is an essential read because it is important to be educated on the history of animators. The figures make a topic that some may find “boring” eye-catching.