The percentage of female characters portrayed in the 100 top domestic grossing films increased only “slightly” last year compared to 2021, according to the latest report from San Diego State. Last year, they accounted for 33% of the protagonists – up from 31% in 2021, but well below the 40% high-water mark achieved in 2019.
Women also made up 38% of the major characters – up from 35% in 2021, and 37% of all speaking roles – up from 34% the year before. The percentage of female speaking roles last year was an all-time high since the school began collecting data in 2002, when they received only 28% of all speaking roles.
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Even so, only 11 of the top 100 films had more female than male characters; 9% had an equal number of female and male roles, while 80 of the films featured more male than female characters.
Read the full report here.
Black actresses in major roles fared well last year, accounting for 21.6% of all major female characters, which was up from 16.4% in 2021. The percentage of major Latina characters, however, declined from 12.8% in 2021 to 7.0% in 2022, while the percentage of major Asian and Asian American females declined from 10% in 2021 to just 6.6% in 2022.
Dr. Martha Lauzen, the author of the report and founder and executive director of the school’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, noted that from 2020 to 2021, “The increases in the numbers of major Latina and female Asian American characters were due to films featuring higher concentrations of characters in these groups, such as In the Heights, West Side Story, and Raya and the Last Dragon. However, the absence of similar films in 2022 caused the percentages of females in these groups to drop.”
With respect to all speaking roles, female characters of color were down in all but one racial or ethnic category last year, when 18% were Black – down from 19.3% the year before; 6.9% were Latina – down from 9.5% in 2021; 8.1% were Asian…
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