Joanna Lumley Says Women Would Be Shut Out Of “Weird” Gender-Neutral Awards

Joanna Lumley, the BAFTA-winning British actress, has said that women would lose out if award ceremonies switched to gender-neutral prizes.

The Absolutely Fabulous and Paddington performer said she was unsure about the drift away from segregating awards on the basis of gender, saying it was “a bit weird.”

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Ceremonies including the Brit awards have embraced gender-neutral categories, while BAFTA has said it is actively considering the issue. Emma Corrin, who identifies as non-binary, is a vocal supporter.

Lumley is less sweet on the idea, telling TalkTV: “I know that if my name was just put up as best actor against lots of men, I wouldn’t have a chance. But as best actress, you might.”

The Brits was criticized this year after its award for artist of the year featured an all-male list of nominees, including Stormzy and Harry Styles.

Others in the industry think the gender-neutral move is inevitable. Sam Mendes told the BBC earlier this year: “I have total sympathy with it, yeah, and I think it might well be inevitable in the end … I think that’s the way it’s moving and I think that it’s perfectly reasonable.”

Lumley said she was uncertain about awards altogether. She said: “When I read about the Oscars, and I realized that to get even onto a list to be part of the shortlist, you have to go around lobbying people and promising things, and having lunch. These are the stars who are up for it. You have to go, as it were, tarting around to get people in favor, I’m not sure about it.

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