Well, this is a downer.
In spite of so many critically acclaimed female-led movies released (Stateside) in 2017 such as Lady Bird, I, Tonya and The Shape of Water, as well as box office hits in Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast and The Last Jedi, female representation in film has dropped overall.
A new study found that the 100 top grossing films of 2017 saw fewer female protagonists than the year before, making up just 24%, a drop of 5% from the year before. The stats come from a report titled “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World” from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University which examined 2361 characters.
“In an awards season when talk about women and gender has been top of mind, we need to separate hyperbole from reality,” Martha Lauzen, executive director of the center, said in a statement. “The numbers do not yet reflect claims of a tectonic or massive shift in the film industry.”
Women accounted for 37% of major characters (same as 2016), and 24% of speaking characters, which represents a 2% increase from 2016. However, only 32% of films featured 10 or more female characters, while 79% of films had 10 or more male characters.
Sole female protagonists were more likely to appear in independent films (65%) than studio films (35%). Females were more likely to appear in comedies and dramas (30 percent), with males were most likely to appear in action features.
Females also remained younger than their male counterparts. The majority of female characters were in their twenties and thirties, while the majority of males were in their thirties and forties.
The percentage of black females increased from 14% to 16% from 2016 to 2017, while the representation of Latinas more than doubled from 3% to 7%. The percentage of Asian females increased one percentage point, to 7%.