Actress Jameela Jamil came out against gender-neutral award show categories on Saturday, arguing it would be better for non-binary people to have their own category in an Instagram post.
"Would it not be better to give non-binary people their own category rather than open the door for Hollywood to completely shut out women given the known disproportionate amount of men vs women winning at award shows?" Jamil wrote on Instagram, in response to the Oscars "looking to get rid of gendered acting awards."
Jamil said if there was enough non-binary talent to "restructure" award shows, then they should "add rather than run the accidental risk of erasing."
"I don’t think it will help women or NB people to minimize the amount of possible winners," she said. "We should look to EXPAND the possibilities so that both GNC [gender non-conforming] people and women have a fair shot in an industry that has for a long time struggled to treat others equals to men."
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Jamil acknowledged that a "disparity" existed and argued there would be a "growing ire from women" who are shut out of award opportunities because "we have created only one spot among 10s of thousands of actors in a world that favors men."
A new set of diversity standards for Oscar consideration is set to take effect in 2024 and will require films to meet at least two out of four diversity standards in order to be eligible for the "Best Picture" award.
Beginning next year, film producers and directors will be required to submit to the Academy a dossier of the sort that points to the race, gender, sexual orientation and disability status of their film’s cast and crew members.
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Oscars voters criticized the standards, calling them "completely ridiculous."
"Imagine if great films were not made because of studio or corporate mandates that every film has to conform to the standard for a Best Picture nomination?" one director asked the New York Post.
"I’m for diversity, but to make you cast certain types of people if you want to get nominated? That makes the whole process contrived. The person who is right for the part should get the part. Why should you be limited in your choices? But it’s the world we’re in. This is crazy," the director added.
"This is a post about inclusion, not exclusion. It's about making more space. About adding seats to the table. We need to be able to ask and discuss these things with love, compassion and honest logic," Jamil wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
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The Film Independent Spirit Awards - also known as the Spirit Awards or FINDIE, which presents awards dedicated to independent filmmakers - announced in August 2022 that they would be honoring acting without referencing gender.
It joined several prominent awards organizations that have made the switch to non-gendered awards, including the Grammys, the Gotham Awards and the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
Jamil addressed the topic again on Sunday in several posts on her Instagram story and said she was being accused of being a "terf" in response to her post. She added that she had no issue with transgender women competing in women's categories.
Jamil criticized liberals who "write people off and terrify people from joining," referring to liberal issues.
"I'm not worried about me, I don't get very affected by it, it's become just a sad truth in my work that you are easily called a bigot and lumped in with actual bigots who get away Scott free [sic] because liberals throw literally anyone who doesn't show total obedience into that pool," she added.
"People are quiet-quitting the left and it's because of reductive, combative extremists."
Fox News' Tracy Wright and Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.
