Male to female ratio in family films and television

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Male to female ratio in family films and television

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So let's talk about family films first. The research shows that in G, PG, and PG-13, the ratio of male to female characters is wildly imbalanced. For every 1 female character, there are 3 male characters. This is speaking characters. If you look at crowd scenes, only 17% of the characters are female .So that means if there's a scene like in a village or a kingdom or another planet or whatever, the population of this fictitious world is really only about 17% female. We also looked at the occupations of female characters. Found that 81% of the jobs are held by male characters in family rated films. So all of this is sending a clear message to kids about how society values women. We're seeing that male characters do far more interesting things than female characters if they hold most of the jobs and are driving most of the plots. We found that actually the female characters, one of their main ambitions, if it was a lead or supporting characters, was finding romance. And the primary function of most of the female characters is eye candy in the plot. So this is clearly a very negative message for our kids.

Watch Video: Male to female ratio in family films and television by Geena Davis, ...

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Geena Davis

Academy Award Winning Actor & Founder of Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

Academy Award winner Geena Davis is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, appearing in several roles that became cultural landmarks. Earning the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, Davis broke ground in her portrayal of the first female President of the United States in ABC’s hit show “Commander in Chief.”In 1989, Davis received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the offbeat dog trainer Muriel Pritchett in Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Accidental Tourist.” She was again nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Ridley Scott’s “Thelma & Louise,” in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon. Davis went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon Dottie Hinson in “A League of Their Own.” Davis made her feature film debut starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie.” She went on to star in such films as “The Fly,” “Beetlejuice,” “Angie,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” and “Stuart Little.”

Few have achieved such remarkable success in as many different fields as Davis has: she is not only an Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor, but a world-class athlete (at one time the nation’s 13th-ranked archer), a member of the genius society Mensa, and is becoming recognized for her tireless advocacy of women and girls nearly as much as for her acting accomplishments. She is the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters – and reduce gender stereotyping – in media made for children 11 and under.

Davis was appointed Special Envoy for Women and Girls in ICT for the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Davis is also an official partner of UN Women, working toward their goal of promoting gender equality and empowering women worldwide. Davis is the Chair of the California Commission on the Status of Women. Davis holds honorary degrees from Boston University, Bates College and New England College. 

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