Gender inequality still has a starring role in Hollywood, USC study finds

[redqueen]

According to a survey of 2009 films, male roles far outweigh those for women, females are far more likely to be scantily dressed, and a storyteller's sex affects what's depicted on-screen.

The USC study determined that women were still far more likely than men to wear sexy clothing in movies, such as swimwear and unbuttoned shirts (25.8% versus 4.7%), to expose skin (23% versus 7.4%) and to be described by another character as attractive (10.9% versus 2.5%).

Revealing clothing and partial nudity was just as prevalent among 13- to 20-year-old female characters as it was among those 21 to 29, suggesting that females are sexualized on-screen at young ages, Smith said.

(snip)

Researchers found that the sex of the storytellers had a significant effect on what appeared on-screen. In movies directed by women, 47.7% of the characters were female; in movies directed by men, fewer than a third of the characters were female. When one or more of the screenwriters was female, 40% of characters were female; when all the screenwriters were male, 29.8% of the characters were female.

Marginalization and disenfranchisement are serious issues, and we are not making any progress.

Another bit of information shared in the article - over 50% of movie tickets were bought by women.

Perhaps women should reconsider those trips to the movies, and consider more carefully about which movies are actually worth supporting.

[backtoblue]

1. nice post redqueen

The portrayal of women as nothing more than sex creatures is harming to the entire society. Men will want to seek out women who "look the part" and women will starve themselves to get into that scant clothing in order to conform to what the media and tv want them to look like.

[redqueen]

2. Thanks. It is so important, but so few seem to want to acknowledge it...

or the ways in which it influences behavior.

[Feldspar]

3. Read the article and I have to assume

that the study did not include the porn sector of "filmed entertainment".

Plenty of *roles* for women there. Where do you think the mainstreaming of younger and younger girls being sexualized came from? /rhetorical questions

ETA: also the vast, vast majority of porn *ticket holders* are male which would have heavily skewed that data set

[redqueen]

4. Hah yes...

the organization doing the study was concerned with women's rights... not with further marginalizing, disenfranchising, or objectifying women. :)

[niyad]

5. wish I could rec this, but will kick for this important subject