For one thing, even in 2021, the film industry is still largely male, with far too few women producers, directors, and writers in the room at any given studio. No, the real reasons are complicated and varied.

And it’s also not for a lack of interest, as evident in the huge box-office takes of movies like Girls Trip and Bad Moms, not to mention the fact that, on the TV side of things, viewers are flocking to raunchy, smart female-led comedies ranging from Insecure to Pen15. So, what gives? It’s certainly not for a lack of talent one only has to glance at the Best Comedy Actress lineup of the Golden Globes each year to see that actresses capable of on-screen hilarity are not in short supply. Meanwhile, male-starring adult comedies are a dime a dozen, from 22 Jump Street to The Nice Guys and Good Boys to pretty much every Seth Rogen vehicle ever. But, in the decade since, you can count the number of hard-R comedies starring more than one or two women using your hands: 2013’s action movie The Heat, Amy Schumer’s 2015 hit Trainwreck, the Ghostbusters reboot in 2016, 2017’s hangout-gone-wrong romps Girls Trip and Rough Night, and the two movies in the Bad Moms franchise. When Bridesmaids came out in 2011, its massive critical and commercial success (to date, it’s earned over $288 million) was seen as a positive sign that the world was ready, finally, to accept that women could be funny on screen - and that filmgoers would pay to see more movies as funny, sharp, and original as the Paul Feig-directed film.

And nowhere is that clearer than in the continued dearth of female-led comedies. Between the lack of recognition for female directors, the sexist tropes seen in so many rom-coms, and the mere handful of roles available for actresses over the age of 40, women (especially women of color) in the film industry face barriers their male counterparts never do. It’s no secret that, for as long as Hollywood has existed, women have gotten the short end of the stick, both behind and in front of the camera. When Bridesmaids came out in 2011, its massive critical and commercial success was seen as a positive sign that the world was ready, finally, to accept that women could be funny on screen.

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