In a turn of events that shocks no one, yet another Emmys ceremony is being hosted by a man. This isn’t me being an angry feminist jumping at the chance to burn a guy at the stake, but there is something to be said about the fact that a woman hasn’t hosted the Emmys in six years. So, in some ways, it becomes a feminist issue.
This is the second time Jimmy Kimmel has been asked to host the ceremony, some saying this choice was rooted in his security as a host. Kimmel has the charisma and experience to be trusted with one of the few major televised award ceremonies American entertainment has to offer.
Kimmel is great, but I think that we had other options. Amy Schumer, for example, is an established comedian and has the same charisma and talk show experience to carry a three-hour-long ceremony. If it’s about long-term experience, let America’s favorite lesbian, Ellen DeGeneres, carry the show — she hosted once, for the 2005 ceremony.
Last year saw the Emmy Awards’ lowest ratings ever: first-timer Andy Samberg was entrusted with hosting, but flopped. This year was an opportunity for awards’ organizers to take a risk, seeing as things for the Television Academy couldn’t get much worse after the drop in over 4 million viewers between the 2014 and 2015 telecasts. However, they stuck to what was safe; Kimmel’s last Emmys brought in over 13 million viewers. To me, it’s obvious that they took the easy way out.
The 2013 Golden Globes ceremony, hosted by power-duo Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, saw a 17 percent rise in viewership from the previous year’s, and was the highest rated Globes telecast in almost 10 years. Historically, Emmys viewership trails behind that of the Golden Globes by at least 2 to 3 million viewers each year. Wouldn’t it make sense for the Television Academy to take a page out of the Golden Globe’s book and let at least one woman host the show?
Ellen DeGeneres’ 2005 Emmys ceremony was the highest-rated Emmys telecast in almost 13 years. Isn’t that proof enough that women are charismatic and ballsy enough to carry the coveted role of host? It’s our job as consumers to lead the pack in demanding a shift; in an entertainment world dominated by middle-aged white men (a friendly reminder of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy), we should challenge ourselves and those whose entertainment we pay so much for, to be better.