Gloria Steinem, left, and Marlo Thomas, from the program “Makers: Women Who Make America,” pose together for a portrait during the PBS Winter TCA Tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel, in Pasadena, Calif. Actors and actresses compete separately at awards shows, a tradition some in the industry consider vital for women but others question. Steinem and Thomas weighed in on the issue during a TCA press tour interview.LOS ANGELES – Do Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Helen Mirren need affirmative action to snare one of Hollywood’s favorite accessories, an Oscar, Emmy or Screen Actors Guild trophy?
In a society tilting steadily toward gender neutrality, the separate-but-equal awards that divide actors into one camp and actresses into another have the whiff of a moldy anachronism.
True, the Association for Women in Science gives honors to encourage female success in male-dominated fields. But to mark enduring achievements, would its members ever yearn for a Women’s Nobel Prize in physics?
In contests of intellect or artistry, should gender ever matter?
“It’s not like it’s upper body strength,” Gloria Steinem dryly observed of the requirements of acting.