Female characters are outnumbered two to one by their male counterparts in the most successful Hollywood films, a new report shows.
According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Sex Roles, authored by US academics Conor Neville and Phyllis Anastasio of Saint Joseph’s University, just over 32% of characters in 50 of the US’s top-grossing films of 2016 were women. When the analysis was narrowed down to lead characters, the proportion dipped even more, to just over 31%.
The figures represent an improvement on a similar study from 2005, which analysed the 88 box office hits of 2002. Then, women comprised 28% of all characters and 27% of lead roles. The 2010 census recorded the total female population of the US at 157 million, or 50.8%.
Neville said: “Progress has been made, but men still outnumber women two to one in film, which means that the more powerful representations of women seen in our sample are not getting the screen exposure comparable to their proportion in the real world.”
Female characters also suffered when it came to on-screen portrayals of leadership: 26% of female characters were portrayed in leadership roles, as opposed to 57% of male.
Anastasio said: “Although on the surface, not being portrayed as equal to men in film and television may seem rather inconsequential, inequality is the first step towards violence against any person or groups of people. As subtle as gender inequality is in film, it is just that – inequality – and, as such, it contributes to the overall dehumanisation and victimisation of women.”