Story highlights RaVal Davis: "Insecure" and "Girls Trip" call out institutional barriers that women face

Both films are evening out the playing field by putting more naked men on our screens, writes Davis

Editor\'s Note: RaVal Davis is an entertainment writer, actress, and advocate for body positivity. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own.

(CNN) — With nearly all-black, female-led casts, both HBO's "Insecure" and feature film "Girls Trip" are clearly breaking all types of color and gender barriers. But it's what's happening behind the scenes that is changing the game on a more interesting frontier. Female writers like "Insecure's" Issa Rae and With nearly all-black, female-led casts, both HBO's "Insecure" and feature film "Girls Trip" are clearly breaking all types of color and gender barriers. But it's what's happening behind the scenes that is changing the game on a more interesting frontier. Female writers like "Insecure's" Issa Rae and Erica Rivinoja and Tracy Oliver of "Girls Trip," are leveling the playing field when it comes to male and female nudity, by putting more naked men on our screens. It's just what Hollywood needs.

For far too long, naked women have become such a staple in TV and film that it's hard to notice, much less quantify, the inequality unfolding right before our eyes. But a recent study from Mount Saint Mary's University did just that and found that actresses are almost three times as likely as their male counterparts to be required to strip to their unmentionables.

RaVal Davis

Undoubtedly, female nudity has become an accomplice to get viewers through bad plotlines and awkward acting. And sometimes it's just the cherry atop the box office sundae. But why is female nudity so much more ubiquitous than male nudity? And what does this say about the role of women in the world?

According to a 2005 University of Pennsylvania study , 57% of US teenagers, ages 14 to 16, identified television, film and other media as the primary source of information about sex and gender. In a post-#ImWithHer era, are we really still OK with such widespread and normalized objectification of the female body?

But it's not only an issue for the viewer. It's an even larger issue for the actress being asked to display her body. As a new actress trying my best to break into episodic television, I have to admit I cringe every time I read those typical female character breakdowns. You know the ones: The waitress in the club who has no more than five lines but happens to have sex with the main male character. She's totally inconsequential to the plot but helps move the episode along somehow. And, of course, NUDITY REQUIRED or MUST BE OK WITH NUDITY is bolded at the bottom of the script. It's degrading but seemingly sometimes a necessary evil for actresses to make their way above the five-line mark.

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