The film industry has been accused of perpetuating gender discrimination in a new UN backed study.
The landmark research, revealed by women’s activist and actress Geena Davis, found that female characters have fewer than one-third of all speaking roles in film and are largely absent from powerful positions on screen.
The study, from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, found that only 22 per cent of the fictional big screen workforce was made up by female characters and less than 15 per cent of those were portrayed as holding powerful positions such as business execs, political figures, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics employees.
“The fact is – women are seriously under-represented across nearly all sectors of society around the globe, not just on-screen, but for the most part we’re simply not aware of the extent,” said Geena Davis.
“In the time it takes to make a movie, we can change what the future looks like,” Ms. Davis added.
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Actress and Mensa member Geena Davis has been outspoken about the roles of women in film.
According to UN Women the study, which analysed popular movies from Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, United States and United Kindom, revealed a “deep-seated discrimination and pervasive stereotyping of women and girls by the international film industry.”
Findings also suggested that women are more likely to be hypersexualized than their male counterparts, with girls and women twice as likely to be shown in sexualized attire, nude, or thin.
The new evidence only helps to support findings from a 2013 report commissioned by the Sundance film festival which suggested that female directors struggled to make it in mainstream Hollywood despite holding the majority in the field of independent cinema.
A British study, published in July this year, also found 75 per cent of employees on the biggest blockbusters for the past 20 years have been men.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the findings were a “wake-up call”.
The reports has prompted equality lobbyists to ask for greater gender sensitivity from filmmakers.
UN Women’s Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka described the study as a “wake-up call” for the global film industry.
“With their powerful influence on shaping the perceptions of large audiences, the media are key players for the gender equality agenda,” said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“With influence comes responsibility,” she added.
