Females represent just over half of the United States population. Yet their role in
cinematic content does not reflect this reality. Looking at characters in films from 1946
to 1990, one study shows that females only occupy 25-28% of all parts.2 Another study
found that 32% of all primary and secondary roles are filled with females across 100
films released between 1940 and 1980. More recent data reveals a similarly lop-sided
scenario, yielding roughly equivalent point statistics for females in film (27.3-32%). 3
Assessing over 15,000 speaking characters across 400 top-grossing theatrically released
G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated films, Smith and her colleagues found 2.71 males appear for
every one female.4 Put another way, only 27% of all speaking characters in movies are
girls or women. Significant but trivial deviation emerged in the percentage of females by
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating. No change in the percentage of
females materialized by release date across three distinct periods of time (i.e., 1990-95,
1996-00, 2001-06).
