In terms of award shows, the MTV Movie & TV Awards might not be the most prestigious. But it certainly is one of the most progressive.
For the first time in its 25-year history, the award show eliminated gender-based distinctions for its acting categories.
"Great acting is great acting, no matter what the gender or nongender," MTV's general manager Amy Doyle told The Hollywood Reporter.
Women emerged victorious in both categories: Emma Watson won best actor in a movie for her role in "Beauty and the Beast," and Millie Bobby Brown from "Stranger Things" won best actor in a show.
MTV has other acting awards, including best comedic performance and best villain. But those categories have always been nongendered.
The Grammy Awards eliminated separate male and female categories in 2011. But major movie- and TV-driven award shows like the Golden Globes and Oscars still have gender-specific acting categories.
But even in the Oscars' nongendered categories, men tend to win over women.
In 2008, Diablo Cody was the last woman to win best screenwriter for "Juno." And Kathryn Bigelow is the only female director to have ever taken home the directing Oscar.
MTV made some other changes to its Movie & TV Awards this year to better fit its audience.
For the first time, it gave its generation award to a movie franchise, honoring the "Fast and Furious" series instead of a lone actor.
And it retooled its best fight category — which was awarded last year to "Deadpool." Instead of honoring a physical fight this year, MTV gave its best fight against the system award to the film "Hidden Figures," which highlights the black female mathematicians who worked at NASA when the U.S. space program was just beginning.
