Proof that gender inequality exists on-screen - Women's Agenda

Proof that gender inequality exists on-screen

It’s no secret that gender inequality on screen is a persistent problem. In June, a University of Southern California study showed that 70% of the speaking roles in the highest grossing films went to men, and some cinemas in Sweden have even come up with a way to counteract the glaring gender bias on screen with the Bechdel test.

Now, on the eve of the record-breaking film release of the female-character driven Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The New York Film Academy (NYFA) has compiled a handy visual graphic that takes a look at the progress — if any — for women in films. The take away is rather uninspiring.

Aside from a handful of notable standouts, the numbers aren’t easy to swallow. While women are responsible for 50% of movie tickets sold in the US, they account for just 30.8% of speaking roles onscreen.

And just 10.7% of movies surveyed featured a balanced cast where half the characters where female.

Female sexuality is still a well worn trope — nearly 30% of women wore revealing clothes on screen, compared with just 7% of men, and 26.6% — roughly one third of female speaking characters — were partially naked onscreen, with the depiction of female nudity on screen increasing by 32.5% from 2007 to 2012.

According to the NYFA blog, it’s clear that Hollywood remains stuck in its gender bias, but it’s not all-negative, with signs that emerging talent and female filmmakers are challenging the current status quo, particularly in independent film-making, with women making up almost half the directors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

However, the NYFA blog notes most of these films still struggled when it comes to films receiving a wider release.

“By shedding light on gender inequality in film, we hope to start a discussion about what can be done to increase women’s exposure and power in big-budget films,” it said.

Check out the infograph below. Do any of these figures surprise you?

If you’d like to view the infographic in full size click here 

Inforgraphic source: New York Film Academy

 

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