Study looks at lack of females in popular movies

TORONTO — A study published Tuesday reveals that only 28 per cent of speaking characters in last year’s top-grossing films were female.

Research by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California also found that females accounted for less than one-third of speaking roles every year since 2007.

In all, the study looked at 700 popular films with 30,835 speaking characters.

The report said women are nearly three times more likely to be objectified on the big screen. Last year, only 8 per cent of males were shown in “sexually revealing clothing” compared to nearly 28 per cent of females.

READ MORE: 2014 another bad year for female filmmakers

Only 21 movies in 2014 had females as leads or co-leads — and none were over the age of 45.

It’s not much better behind the cameras, according to the study. Only two directors of the 100 top movies of 2014 were female: Angelina Jolie (Unbroken) and Shana Feste (Endless Love).

The study, authored by former Us Weekly reporter Gretchen McCartney, also looked at the number of visible minorities and LGBT characters in the movies.