Why Oscar Had Little Time for ‘Women’ : Movies: ‘Little Women’ was well-received but got few major Oscar nominations, which has raised the issue of an anti-female bias in the film academy’s writers branch.

KLOS talk-show hosts Mark and Brian had a bet. The loser had to go see “Little Women.” When informed of the banter, the film’s screenwriter, Robin Swicord, wasn’t surprised. Anything having to do with women has lower status, she observes--a bias both the motion picture academy and the industry reflect.

Despite the fact that the period film, based on the Louisa May Alcott classic, drew some of the year’s best reviews, it was the only one of the Writers Guild of America’s best adapted screenplay nominees that didn’t make the Oscar cut.

“I was the only naysayer,” says Swicord, alluding to talk that “Little Women” would emerge as an academy nominee. “I know the demographics. Sixty-five percent of our audience is female and the academy is heavily skewed towards males. One academy source was quoted as saying he doubted most of the members would even look at the cassette before passing it along to their granddaughters.”

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Though the academy nominated Winona Ryder in the best actress category and acknowledged the film’s costumes and music, “Little Women” was shut out of the balloting for best picture, best director and best screenplay. Director Gillian Armstrong speculates that the film may have been hurt by Sony’s decision to limit its trade ads in recent years. But the nature of the material, she’s convinced, didn’t help.

“So-called ‘women’s films’ have been recognized by the academy,” admits Armstrong, the first woman to direct a feature film in her native Australia. “But ‘Thelma & Louise’ toted guns. ‘The Piano’ had Harvey Keitel and was about sex. Our film was perceived as sentimental and girlish, so getting men in the academy to see this film was a lot trickier.”

In its 72-year-old history, only three women--Callie Khouri (“Thelma & Louise”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”) and, more than 60 years before, Frances Marion (“The Big House”)--have won Oscars for original scripts on which they have sole credit. Among the best adapted screenplay winners, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala--who won for “A Room With a View” (1986) and “Howards End” (1992)--stands alone.

Part of the problem, the “Little Women” filmmakers suggest, is that only 13% of the 400 members of the academy’s writers branch, which decides on the screenplay nominees, are female. Because women write less than one-quarter of the screenplays produced, they’re less likely to have acquired the two on-screen credits in “quality” films needed to join.

The Writers Guild of America is a bit more heterogeneous since a script sold to a guild signatory--produced or not--is sufficient for membership. Twenty-four percent of the 7,204 voting members of the WGA West are female--a figure that increases to 35% in the WGA East.

The picture is even worse for female directors, who make up a mere 10% of the Directors Guild of America and only 6% of the academy’s directors branch. Just two women--Lina Wertmuller (“Seven Beauties”) and Campion (“The Piano”)--have competed in the best director category, neither of whom won. And when “Awakenings” (1990) and “Prince of Tides” (1992) were nominated by the academy, Penny Marshall and Barbra Streisand were not.

Fay Kanin, current chair of the writers branch and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, calls the issue of anti-female bias a bogus one.

“It’s usually the big action films you’d think male voters would go for that don’t figure into the balloting,” notes Kanin, a 1958 screenplay nominee for “Teacher’s Pet” along with her husband, Michael Kanin. “And while it’s twice as hard for women to do anything , it’s a mistake--and demeaning--to give them special consideration. The academy is not a guild but a club--an honorary society comprised of the best in the art.”

While Khouri admits that her Oscar experience is “far from typical,” she cautions against making generalizations based on gender. “As many men love ‘Little Women’ as dismiss it,” she says. “Besides, you can’t speak of ‘the academy’ in the singular. It’s a bunch of individuals filling out secret ballots rather than a body with a uniform philosophy.”

Still, Khouri suggests, you can’t sidestep certain realities. “Studios do regard female-themed projects as less respectable undertakings than a Steven Seagal film. They call them ‘women’s pictures’ in an attempt to marginalize them.”

Sid Ganis, president of worldwide marketing for Columbia/TriStar, which released “Little Women,” concedes that “even the male executives who greenlighted the film were surprised to be so moved.”

Though overlooked as a best picture nominee, the $20-million “Little Women” has grossed $48 million domestically--and prospects for home video look good.

“We’ve shown that you can have a hit, even if the audience is predominantly female,” observes “Little Women” producer Denise Di Novi (“Batman Returns,” “Edward Scissorhands”). “Still, when push came to shove, the Establishment seemed to conclude that we were a ‘girls’ film, soft and lightweight. Even the critics who said we shouldn’t be forgotten at awards time left us off their Oscar round-ups and year-end lists.

“Maybe we’re wrong,” Di Novi concludes. “Maybe, as Freud says, ‘A cigar is just a cigar.’ But if we don’t bring up the academy’s gender imbalance, nothing will change.”

One veteran academy executive, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, insists that a version of “affirmative action” is already in place. “I’ve heard it said that we should be looking ‘very carefully’ at women’s applications--that, all things being equal, we should try to let them in,” he says.

In any case, maintains writer-director Nora Ephron, a three-time Oscar nominee for her “Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally . . .” and “Sleepless in Seattle” screenplays, it’s the industry--not the academy--that should be targeted.

“Women have made great inroads in the past 10 years, but many have just gotten their first screenwriting credit,” Ephron notes. “If we can solve the problem of sexism in the industry, the academy has no choice but to follow. There’s always a seven-second delay.”