“The Shame of Family Films: Enough with the sexy sidekicks”
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- Summary of the article
A study by Smith and Choueiti shows that there are fewer female characters in family movies these days. For every 3 male characters, there is only 1 female counterpart who, disappointingly, plays a trivial role or is seen wearing sexy clothes exposing areas between mid-chest to upper thigh. From the 122 family films used for the study, authors found 1 out of four women with exaggerated small waists. According to Geena Davis of the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media, women only compose 17 percent of the narrators and animators in family movies nowadays, while another 17 percent females are visible in crowd scenes. Davis has portrayed several dynamic characters in both movies and TV, one of which is a female president in the TV show Commander in Chief. A study commissioned by Kaplan Thaler indicates that through the show, 68 percent of its audience are likely to pay more attention to a female president. Davis concludes that what is shown on screen is influential on how boys and girls consider girls in general. However, studios are not keen on uplifting the female image as they only employ 7 percent female directors, 13 percent writers, and 13 percent writers. Female characters only become noticeable on screen when the writer is female, and these figures explain why there are only few of them that can be seen on movies and TV. The study serves as a validation of where women stand in the world of entertainment today, mere bystanders or occasional sexy characters while boys take on active roles.
