Does female audience not support female stars?

Picking up from a discussion in other thread.

Is female fanbase not consistent or loyal or dedicated to female stars?

As much as they are for male stars?

Do female fans care to watch films of female stars they like? Are they as passionate, diehard supporters of female stars as male fans are for their favs? Do they support female stars beyond age, genres, controversies?

Male actors have male and female fans

Female actors had mostly male fans, who focus mostly on the physical attributes. When youth fades, those fans are gone.

It started changing in the 90s I think. Sadly, the support is soft compared to that of male stars.

Take a fan who likes both Salman and Kat. Push comes to shove, fan is likely to support Salman over Kat. Same for Ranbir and Katrina fans, Ranveer Deepika fans, and so on.

Of course fan wars don't matter in who ends up an icon. But it shows the patriarchal mindset.

My love for the below stays the same over the years (whatever is going on in their personal lives, a movie release of them is usually a must watch for me, kinda fan 😃) -

Tabu

Smita

Shabana

Jaya

Ratna
Sri

Parveen

Kajol

Juhi

Sonali

Sushmita

Alia

@HearMeRoar

I agree. Patriarchal mindset. I see looks, character, bodies, behaviour of female stars judged way more harshly than that of males. Online also, sadly, women tend to bash Rekha, Hema, Madhuri, Ash etc a lot, especially for working at older age or after marriage and kids or calling them dominating, wondering if they neglect families or husband etc. There is a whole gang after Deepika wondering why she does not have kids yet or is she 'money hungry'.

I have not really seen female fans or male fans loyal to female stars after an age.

I know Women were rooting for Kangana

But she botched that 😂

I don't think it necessarily is true that female audiences don't support female stars. But, there is a combination of factors ranging from consumption patterns to social structures - some patriarchal and some not.

I'll use the example of Charlie's Angels. Both the original series and the 2000s movies were well-received hits. No one ever had any qualms about pretty women who also did insane action. No one ever raised an eyebrow questioning if Lucy Liu was a diversity hire.

Charlie's Angels was created for the male gaze. The three angels were always sexualized. There were always eye candy sequences that fit in for the sole purpose of titillation. As long as a male fantasy was being fulfilled they didn't care as much about other aspects.

When the Charlie's Angels reboot decided to actively dismiss the male gaze, it immediately lost a majority of its audience base. Men no longer were interested in the film. And some went out of their way to find flaws like the action being unrealistic or the casting being too woke/diverse. Had the new movie also chosen to include some sort of skin show to titillate, some of the same folks who criticized the movie would have.

Meanwhile - it didn't draw as many female audiences. It is because women in general are not action movie fans and women don't go to the movies as much as men do. Part of the reasons behind this are patriarchal - women are conditioned to love romcoms and tend to have more responsibilities that limit leisure time. Part of the reason is just that - women as consumers simply behave differently.

I bet you - some of the same bros who trashed Charlie's Angels are raving about Cocaine bear based on just one trailer. (Elizabeth Banks is the director of both).

On the other hand, the television industry is ruled by the female demographic. One of HBO's biggest successes was Sex and the City which became a cultural icon. Channels like Hallmark and Lifetime exist to serve the female demographic. Women are behind the explosion of true crime on streaming. Women in general prefer television - it is easier for women with kids or caretaking responsibilities to watch content at home and in certain regions women feel safer watching content at home than going to the movies.

You have to package your content correctly for audiences. If you want to have a female-led movie perform well at the box office - either make it universally appealing like Wonder Woman or don't hesitate to cater to kitsch and the male gaze. Bring it On addresses so many issues like cultural appropriation, white fragility, and class barrier - but no one feels like they are being preached to because it doesn't shy away from the sexy cheerleader stereotype either. If you're unwilling to create box office appeal - a streaming show or TV movie might be the way to go.

Personally for me....I don't care if one is a male or a female actor...I am the fan of actors who entertain me....simple .....so far only SRK, Aamir, Hritik , Ranbir and Katrina have been able to make to my list of favorite stars..😎

I mean it is all conjecture. But there is evidence in music atleast that the disadvantage for female singers comes from male listeners going out of their way to only listen to male singers, while women pretty much listen to both equally. I would assume it is the same issue in cinema. Especially because men make bulk of the movie going audience in India.

Originally posted by: blue-ice.1

Personally for me....I don't care if one is a male or a female actor...I am the fan of actors who entertain me....simple .....so far only SRK, Aamir, Hritik , Ranbir and Katrina have been able to make to my list of favorite stars..😎

Does the 4:1 ratio not tell you anything 😆

Originally posted by: semantic.error

Does the 4:1 ratio not tell you anything 😆

Like I said.....I don't care about supporting movie stars.....why should I support a Kriti Sanon who is an Engineer.....or Bhumi who is filthy rich...If I have to support women...I will support them by buying something from an NGO which works for the upliftment of women...and I do.....but don't expect me to go and support movie actors...😆