Progress toward parity for women on movie screens has stalled, report finds

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study on inclusion in film shows just how much of a rarity “Barbie” is. For every woman as a speaking character in the most popular films of 2022, there were more than two men, according to report by University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The USC report, published Thursday, found that 34.6% of speaking parts were female in the top 100 box-office hits of last year. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has been annual tracking that and many other metrics since 2007. USC researchers found that in many areas, progress toward parity on screen has stalled since the pandemic. In 2019, 34% of speaking characters were female. In 2008, it was 32.8%.