Nepotism, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates especially by giving them jobs,” is a widely criticized phenomenon across various industries. At its core, it’s a debate about fairness, a conversation about how biased society can be, and how unjust it is when people advance in their careers simply because their parents or those around them can influence those in power or financially support their children’s careers.

Sexism in and around nepotism is an important discussion. Nepotism often highlights how some people gain access to dream jobs and elite industries without putting in the hard work, or sometimes, without doing any work at all. And in the age of the internet, it’s become easier than ever to trace the heritage of celebrities and public figures, making nepotism even more visible. But in observing how this conversation unfolds, I’ve noticed something unsettling: nepotism is mostly called out when it involves women.

Think about it, can you name a single male “nepo baby”? Probably not off the top of your head. I’m guessing that when you saw the word “nepotism” a female celebrity popped into your mind. Maybe Hailey Bieber? Lily Rose Depp?

To test my theory about the sexism behind the nepotism conversation, I conducted a small survey. I asked 45 people of various ages, genders, and backgrounds to name the first "nepo baby" that came to mind. Most gave more than one answer -usually three or four- but none of them mentioned a man. The most common names were Maya Hawke, Apple Martin, and North West.

I also reviewed a Cosmopolitan article titled “I Present: All the Celebs You Didn’t Know Were Nepo Babies,” which listed 85 celebrity nepo babies. Only 33 of them were men (some even grouped with their sisters), making up just 38.8% of the list. In another piece from People Magazine called “See Hollywood’s ‘Nepotism Babies’ Side-by-Side with Their A-List Parents in Their Breakout Roles,” of the nine of the 26 featured celebrities, only 34.6%, were male.

With that data in mind, I had to ask: Why is it that the conversation about nepotism disproportionately targets women? 

Is it because there are fewer successful male nepo babies? Not at all.

Some of the most recognizable men in Hollywood are, in fact, nepo babies. Nicolas Cage is the nephew of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. Timothée Chalamet is what you might call a “triple nepo baby”: his mother was a Broadway actress, his uncle a director for shows like Gilmore Girls, and his aunt a writer and producer for L.A. Law. George Clooney’s father was a famous anchorman, and his aunt was an old-school Hollywood star.

Then there’s Matty Healy, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Platt, Scott Eastwood, Dan Levy, and Ben Stiller, all successful, well-known men whose family connections likely played a role in their careers. And yet, these men are never criticized the way Gracie Abrams is.

The case that frustrates me most is the Kardashians. Whether you like them or not (and believe me, I could write an entire article on them alone), the fact is that the women in that family get far more criticism than the men. Rob Kardashian is the only brother out of the six siblings, yet he’s never mentioned in these conversations. In that Cosmopolitan article I referenced earlier, there was even a whole section titled “The Kar-Jenners”, and Rob wasn’t even included.

The sexism tied to nepotism runs deeper than just getting flak for having famous parents. It’s connected to the broader social pattern of discrediting women's achievements. Society still clings to the outdated idea that if a woman is successful, she must have either been born into it or "slept her way to the top." No matter how talented, driven, or hardworking a woman may be, there's always an attempt to attribute her success to a man, her father, her partner, her mentor.

This double standard doesn’t apply to men. Ask yourself: Have you ever heard of a man sleeping his way to a job? Probably not. But that narrative is so often used to undermine women’s credibility and success every step of the way, no matter how high up the popularity ladder she gets.

Ultimately, what I’m saying is that the conversation about nepotism has become another tool to discredit women. Do I think it’s fair that people benefit from family connections while others struggle for opportunities? Of course not. But what bothers me even more is how selectively we criticize it, how it's often just another way to tear down women’s accomplishments.

The entertainment industry is already biased in countless ways. But the fact that women are either dismissed as products of nepotism or accused of exploiting their sexuality to get ahead shows how little room they’re given to succeed on their own merit. Even if nepotism plays a role, the bigger issue is this: women are only seen as deserving when their success serves men, either by enhancing a man's image or by being sexualized as part of the exchange.

If we want to have an honest conversation about nepotism, it has to include a reckoning with the gender bias built into it. Otherwise, it's not just about fairness, it's about control of women, and who we allow to be successful without explanation.