Number of women characters in Hollywood's biggest movies declines in 2014

The fact that most characters in Hollywood’s biggest movies are men isn’t news. But what is news is the fact that the number of women protagonists declined in 2014, according to a new study.

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego state released its annual survey of the top-grossing 100 films in the U.S. and how women are represented in them. Overall, the study found that just 12 percent of protagonists in these movies are women. That’s a 3 percent drop from 2013 and a 4 percent drop from 2002.

Interestingly, the number of women in any kind of major role in these movies stayed at 29 percent. Women made up 30 percent of all speaking parts. Those numbers are slightly up from 2002.

The study also found that many of gender stereotypes still exist in film. Women are often younger than the men. Men are more likely to be defined by their work, while women are more defined by their life situation.

Age-wise, 23 percent of the women characters analyzed are in their 20s and 30 percent were in their 30s. By comparison, most men characters are older - 27 percent are in their 30s and 28 percent are in their 40s.

Seventy-four percent of the major women characters were white, while 11 percent were black. Four percent were Latina, 4 percent were Asian, 3 percent were from another planet and four percent were other. Of course, lack of minority representation isn’t just a problem when it comes to women characters. As a University of California study in August 2014 showed, just 25.9 percent of roles in 2013’s biggest movies were non-white.

The Center also looked at how women are presented in the stories. Eighty-five percent of the women characters with speaking roles have identifiable goals and are more likely to have pro-social goals.

Last year, the center found that women working behind the scenes also declined in 2013. Just 16 percent of the major behind-the-scenes roles were filled by women in 2013.

It is worth noting that the top grossing film of 2014 was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Part 1, which stars Jennifer Lawrence in the main role.

image of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ star Zoe Saldana courtesy of INFphoto.com