Last year, only 12% of the top 100 grossing films in Hollywood had female lead characters, a three-point decline from 2013.
A study examining 23,000 roles found that in the top-grossing domestic films of 2014, women were severely underrepresented as protagonists. Furthermore, only 11% of all female characters last year were African-American, and only 4% were Latina or Asian.
The occupations in which the on-screen women were cast were often stereotypically female roles like mother, girlfriend or wife — identities that often hinged on a male lead.
The actresses who did land leading roles were also of a younger age than their male counterparts, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The chronic underrepresentation of girls and women reveals a kind of arrested development in the mainstream film industry,” said Martha Lauzen at the Center for the Study of Women in Television at San Diego State University.
“It is unfortunate that these beliefs continue to limit the industry’s relevance in today’s marketplace.”
[THR]
- Meet the TIME100: The Most Influential People of 2023
- How We Chose the List
- Jennifer Coolidge Has Some Advice for You
- How Doja Cat Ripped Off Her Shell
- Bob Iger on Ron DeSantis, Creativity, and the Future of Disney
- Michael B. Jordan Worked Through 'Some Personal Sh-t' With Creed III
- Salman Rushdie Is Recovering, Reflecting, and Writing After the Attack on His Life
- The Mysteries of the Biggest Intel Leak in a Decade
- Who Has the Most to Gain From That Succession Death? A Ranking
