Geena Davis: Stereotypes in movies has negative effect

Research conducted by the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, and commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, finds that there is a significant lack of females in family-friendly films -- and those who are in movies are often shown in sexual and non-professional roles. Among the findings of the report that examined 120 films from 11 countries:

• Of the 5,799 speaking or named characters on screen, 31% were female and 69% were male.
• The majority of workers in the analyzed films were male, at 78%.
• Male characters disproportionately held more powerful occupations than their female counterparts. Only 14% of business executives were female and just 10% of top-level politicians were women.
• Just a quarter of the films examined had a girl or woman as a lead or co-lead driving the plot.
• Only 10% of the sample group had a "balanced cast" that featured girls or women in 45% to 54.9% of all speaking roles.