In traditional media and on the new streaming platforms, the presence of men is not only predominant it is structural. The question we should be asking is whether that structure is also patriarchal. They host the programs, they conduct the interviews, they voice the opinions. Are they also the ones making the decisions?
And when a woman or a gender-diverse person appears, the underlying question is not always about their voice, their perspective, or their experience, but whether they are occupying the “woman’s place” that has been granted to them.
Gender diversity is often treated as a box to check, a quota to fill, or a symbolic gesture meant to ease people’s consciences. But if decision making power remains in the hands of men, what is the value of women’s presence if there is no genuine willingness to listen to what they have to say?
Spoiler alert: Representation matters, and occupying these spaces matters too. The real question, then, is: at what cost?