‘Headless Women’ on Movie Posters = A Visual History of Hollywood Sexism

It’s no secret that many movies objectify women, and that Hollywood, like many industries, is infected with sexism. But sometimes pictures say it all.

A recent Internet corrective: the Headless Women of Hollywood, a Tumblr filled with movie posters in which images of female body parts – legs, hips, cleavage, lips – are prominently featured, minus a clear picture of the woman’s face. We’ve all seen posters like these a million times without giving it a second thought. But scrolling through so many of them, one after the other, makes it clear how lazy and exploitative this long-standing trope is. (We wrote about a similar issue last year, in this Yahoo Movies piece about the ubiquitous movie-poster focus on female rear ends. At least in most of these images, the women’s facial features are not obscured.)

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Headless Women of Hollywood, created by comedian Marcia Belsky, demonstrates the breadth and scope of this marketing epidemic, which is not limited by genre or even time period. Sure, headless women are featured on one-sheets for teen sex comedies (Porky’s) and other fare that makes a point of its R rating (Showgirls, Dirty Grandpa), but they’re also associated with classics (The Graduate, Blue Velvet), spy thrillers (the James Bond series), superhero blockbusters (Suicide Squad), Oscar winners (American Beauty), and even animated movies aimed at children (Minions).

“(When) people see women’s bodies … cut up as sexual bait, I want them to think about it,” Belsky said in a recent interview with USA Today. Given the amount of media attention Belsky’s work has received in recent days – in addition to USA Today, the blog has been covered by Mashable, the A.V. Club, the Telegraph, and others – it seems like she’s getting her point across. The big question is whether the marketing teams at various studios will actually change their practices as a result.

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As Belsky bluntly declares on the About page for Headless Women of Hollywood: “DAMNIT, HOLLYWOOD!!! WE WANT HEADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” It doesn’t seem like too much to ask.