It’s (still) a man’s world in Hollywood
The percentage of top-grossing films that featured female protagonists plunged last year, from 40% in 2019 to just 29% in 2020, according to the latest study from Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.
The study titled “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2020” found that 49% of films featured male protagonists, and 22% had ensembles. Only 17% of the top-grossing films had more female than male characters, 78% featured more male than female characters, and just 5% had an equal number, according to the report.
Ageism still present in big movies
Things do not get any better when it comes to age. The report found a gendered difference in visibility of actors over the age of 40 in last year’s biggest movies. According to Dr. Lauzen’s research, female characters remained younger than their male counterparts, dramatically declining in number when they reached their 40s.
More specifically, in 2020, males aged 40+ accounted for 52% of all male characters in the 100 top domestic-grossing films, while females aged 40+ comprised 32% of all female characters. The report found that major female characters experience “a precipitous drop” from their 30s to their 40s – falling from 31% of the roles to just 13%.
Black female roles declined
Regarding race and ethnicity, the vast majority (71%) of all female characters with speaking roles were White. The percentage of Black females in speaking roles declined from 20% in 2019 to 17% in 2020, while the percentage of Latinas increased slightly from 5% in 2019 to 6% in 2020. The percentage of Asian females declined from 7% in 2019 to 6% last year.
The report confirms that we have a long way to go towards gender equality in the film industry overall, despite efforts by major streaming platforms like Netflix to hire more women and women of color in both on and off screen roles.
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