A new study has suggested inequality is “entrenched” in Hollywood, with women, minorities and LGBT people among those excluded.
Debate is still raging around Hollywood as the movies that major studios produce are still persistently dominated by white men.
A new study released Wednesday by the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication found that female, LGBT, and racially diverse characters are still dramatically underrepresented in major Hollywood films.
The report also showed:
• There were 2.2 men for every woman in a speaking role in the top 100 films of 2015
• Just one character identifying as transgender was portrayed – there had been none in 2014
• Out of 107 directors, four were black or African American and six were Asian or Asian American. Eight were women – the highest figure since 2008
• The number of LGBT characters increased in 2015 – but only two were shown as parents
• Women are more than three times as likely as men to be shown in sexually revealing clothing or nude – 30.2% to 7.7%
• Characters with a disability made up 2.4% of all speaking roles, despite 18.7% of the US population reporting having a disability in the 2010 census
“While the voices calling for change have escalated in number and volume, there is little evidence that this has transformed the movies that we see and the people hired to create them. Our reports demonstrate that the problems are pervasive and systemic,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, one of the study’s authors.
The study did propose one solution though. It said that if five female characters were added to each script every year, gender parity on screen could be reached by 2018.
