The film posters that unwittingly show how sexist Hollywood really is

Hollywood has been the recipient of much criticism as of late, from its lack of racial diversity to the gender pay gap within acting and now, for its sexist film posters.

Comedian and writer Marcia Belsky started up a project on Tumblr called The Headless Women Project in which she invites users to send movie posters depicting female bodies without a head.

She writes:

The Headless Women project seeks to bring attention to the still standard practise of fragmenting, fetishizing and dehumanising the images of women we see in film, TV, book covers, and advertisement.

By decapitating the woman, she becomes an unquestionably passive object to the male gaze.

The question of her consent is removed completely alongside her head, and her purpose becomes solely that of being looked at by men obediently.

Here are a few of them for your viewing pleasure...

But this one is about the sex industry so it's okay?

And this one is about promiscuity so it's sort of relevant...

Um...

But the film is about...robots...?

And then you enter the rabbit hole and no genre is safe...

Not even adaptions of books...

Or movies that celebrate "strong" female protagonists...

The trend runs deep...

Until you can't un-see it...

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MEN?

Don't worry meninists, Marcia has you covered:

When the men are headless, it’s not mindless, it’s not ordinary, and usually – it is not sexual. His appeal to the opposite gender is not the focus. They are an engaged, unique and clear part of the joke.

Yes but Deadpool?

When it is sexual, like the Deadpool poster, even though he is headless, he is NOT passive. He is an active sexual being, not an object.

Studies suggest that the sexualisation of the female form, coupled with a portrayal of a lack of agency has a negative impact on the way men and society as a whole perceives women.

There you have it: the awkward, inconvenient truth:

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