MTV Movie Awards switches to gender neutral categories
MTV has dropped male and female categories from its annual MTV Movie Awards in favour of gender neutral prizes.
Pitting actors against actresses for the first time, the move responds to debate that only acting categories still differentiate between male and female talent.
Dropped in favour of ‘Best Performance’, the decision has sparked conversation around whether awards shows like the Oscars and the Golden Globes should follow suit.
The male/female divide in awards ceremonies has made headlines recently with the UK’s National Television Awards being one of the first to scrap the gender divide. At the time a spokesperson for the NTAs commented the change “felt right”.
“A great performance is great regardless of gender and we [the NTAs] think that dropping the male/female division has made the drama performance category more exciting.” In 2017, Eastenders’ Lacey Turner took home the prize for her performance as Stacey Fowler.
Over in the US, Asia Kate Dillon, who appears as Taylor in Showtime’s Billions, submitted for consideration in the Emmy’s actor category as they don’t identify as male or female. Of the move Emmy’s organisers said “anyone can submit under either category for any reason.”