The ongoing conversation around the issue of representation of women in media has been productive in terms of bringing attention to the issue, but it's not necessarily changing the nature of the business much. A federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation released earlier this month found that studios systemically discriminated against female directors, and the numbers there—down to just 7% of the filmmakers behind the 250 highest-grossing movies of 2016, from 9% in 2015—are staggering. But while there are plenty of women appearing in movies, the problem of representation exists on-screen as well as off. Of the nine films nominated for Best Picture on Sunday's Oscars, only two—Arrival and Hidden Figures—are about women, and that lack of opportunities to see women's stories told on screen matters. A lot.

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