Today's society is diverse and proud with many individuals refusing to be pigeonholed by gender norms. MTV has responded to this by introducing non-gendered awards for the upcoming MTV Movie Awards.
What will happen on the night?
At this year's award ceremony actors Emma Watson, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Kaluuya, Hailee Steinfeld, James McAvoy and Taraji P. Henson will compete in the same category for 'Best Actor'.
The category best actress doesn't exist anymore so Wolverine will have to beat the beautiful and brave Belle from Beauty and the Beast to get that golden popcorn bucket. You gotta love that!
Vote now for Movie of the Year at the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards + find out who wins on May 7 at 8/7c: https://t.co/sJWBmY87QR #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/6vcK0kdQEQ
— MTV (@MTV) 6. April 2017
And since MTV is including TV-Shows as well for the first time - yes you heard that correctly! - Donald Glover and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will compete with Emilia Clarke, Gina Rodriguez, Mandy Moore and Millie Bobby Brown.
Khaleesi, Eleven, and that maniac Negan are joining the game. Props to MTV for realizing that TV shows develop incredible content, amazing characters, and strong storytelling too.
What does it mean for the film industry?
Hopefully, this change will spark a movement in Hollywood that will lead to non-binary actors gaining visibility and recognition.
Billions star Asia Kate Dillon recently took to Twitter to vent her frustration about award shows leaving non-binary actors out.
"EDIT: My assigned sex is Female. My gender is Non-binary. Anatomy and biology are complicated. I said sex, only as in anatomy."
EDIT: My assigned sex is Female. My gender identity is Non-binary. Anatomy and biology are complicated. I said sex, only as in anatomy. https://t.co/LJyZ5UFPAg
— Asia Kate Dillon (@AsiaKateDillon) 20. März 2017
Such questions, complaints, and thoughts are proof of how important it is that MTV takes this step. It truly is a milestone.
Women's role in the media
Additionally, we can now hope that better roles will be written for women as they will be in competition with their male counterparts who often get better character development and dialogue.
During a panel called The State of Female Justice: Los Angeles, actress Olivia Wilde spoke about an event where a group of actors read the script of a movie but swapped lines so that the men read the female parts and vice versa.
"All the women played men; all the men played women. And it was so fascinating to be a part of this because, as the women took on these central roles - that had all the good lines therefore all the good laughs, all the great moments - the men who joined us to sit on stage started squirming rather uncomfortably and got really bored because they weren't used to being the supporting cast."
The future of Hollywood should lie in the celebration of different people whether it be in race, religion, nationality or gender.
Next, we can work on non-gendered expectations for manners, non-gendered wage payment and non-gendered kids' toys. It's long overdue...
