2019 Was a Record Year for Female Protagonists, Study Says
2019 Was a Record Year for Female Protagonists, Study Says

2019 Was a Record Year for Female Protagonists, Study Says.

The study was conducted by San Diego State University.

The percentage of female leads in top-grossing films rose from 31 to 40 percent.

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45 percent of those female protagonists appeared in studio features and 55 percent appeared in independent features.

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According to Dr. Martha Lauzen, the study’s author, this change indicates a “positive shift” in female representation.

We have now seen two consecutive years of substantial gains for female protagonists, indicating the beginning of a positive shift in representation.

, Dr. Martha Lauzen, via ‘Variety’.

However, in terms of women from underrepresented groups, the numbers are not as indicative of progress.

Black females in speaking roles declined from 21 percent to 20 percent in 2019.

Asian female characters dropped from 10 percent in 2018 to 7 percent in 2019.

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Overall, only 18 percent of major female roles were black, 6 percent were Latina and 5 percent were Asian