Female Lead in Family Films Doubled in 2019

Female just achieved a historic milestone in family films! 

Female leads in family films doubled last year, according to a study by Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Here are some of the relevant findings: 

Lead female characters have reached parity in the top-100 grossing family films! 

The percentage of female leads in family films has doubled from 2007 (24%) to 2019 (48%).

There is progress with female characters’ speaking time in family films. The percentage of speaking time has increased from 31.3% in 2014 to just under 40% in 2019.

When it comes to female leading characters, 67.3% are white women and 32.6% are women of colour. People of colour are 38% of the U.S. population, which means that women of colour are still underrepresented in leading roles.

However, there is not much progress with gender and supporting characters. Male supporting characters still outnumber female supporting characters 2-to-1.

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has advocated for greater inclusion in entertainment media through cutting-edge research and advocacy.