Women have fewer roles on television, study finds
A new study paints a discouraging picture for women on television.
In the 2015-16 TV season, 79 per cent of series had more male than female characters, according to Boxed In, an annual report by San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Five per cent featured casts with an equal number of men and women, while a mere 16 per cent had ensembles with more female characters than male.
Overall, the number of female characters on U.S. broadcast network shows was down slightly from a year ago (41per cent in 2015-16, compared to 42 per cent in 2014-15). The number of women was even lower elsewhere, comprising only 33 per cent of all characters on cable and 38 per cent on streaming (down from 40 per cent for both a year ago). Across platforms, women made up just 39 per cent of all speaking roles.
The nature of the characters they played is worrisome, too, the study’s authors say.
Nine per cent of male characters were portrayed as leaders, while only 5 per cent of female characters were.
Women were also more frequently younger than their male counterparts, more often identified by their marital status and less likely to be seen at work.
And there was an even greater divide behind the camera. In the last year, 26 per cent of creators, directors, writers, producers, editors and directors of photography on broadcast network, cable and streaming series were women, a figure that’s unchanged from the 2006-07 TV season.
Ninety-one per cent of shows across platforms employed no female directors, 76 per cent had no female creators and 71 per cent no female writers.
Series with at least one female creator tended to have more speaking roles for women (45 per cent, compared to just 36 per cent on shows exclusively created by men).
There were some minor strides in racial and ethnic diversity. The number of black female characters climbed to a record 17 per cent (up 2 percentage points from the year before).
Latina characters rose from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the total, while Asian women made up 5 per cent of all characters (up from 4 per cent).
Although 71 per cent of all female characters on broadcast networks are white, that’s still more diverse than cable and streaming shows.
Now in its 19th year, the Boxed In report examines a randomly selected episode of each show on U.S. broadcast and cable networks and streaming services.
Between September 2015 and May 2016, the study tracked just over 3,500 characters and nearly 3,600 behind-the-scenes credits.