Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s Annual Report Confirms 2023 Was Not the “Year of the Woman”

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As a long-time advocate for gender and racial equality in Hollywood, it pains me to see yet another year pass by without significant progress being made. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s annual report confirms what many of us have long suspected: the entertainment industry continues to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and exclusionary practices.

In 2023, “Barbie” emerged as the top-grossing movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and featuring a multicultural ensemble of female characters. This might lead some to presume that this triumph signified greater representation and inclusivity within films during that year.

As a gamer, I was hoping for a significant improvement in diversity and representation in games this year, but, as per the 2023 annual report by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, it seems like we’re still playing catch-up.

In 2023, it was discovered that there were significantly fewer women, particularly girls, holding leading roles in the highest-earning 100 movies compared to the previous year (2022), with this representation dropping to 30%. This is a decrease of 14% compared to the figures from the year before. Remarkably, these statistics are similar to those recorded in 2010.

“Regardless of how you look at the statistics, 2023 did not mark the ‘Year of Women’ in media representation. The trends for female characters on screen remain consistent, year after year, according to Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. It appears that either women are being overlooked as a significant audience or there is resistance to instigate real change. If the entertainment industry wishes to thrive in its current state, it needs to acknowledge and address its lack of gender balance on screen by employing more women.”

Annenberg studied the financial success of approximately 1,700 films from 2007 to 2023, paying special attention to the top 100 films released in 2023. In this analysis, they examined a grand total of 75,328 speaking roles to delve into the representation of gender, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identities, and characters with disabilities across these movies.

In the year 2023, just over one-tenth (11%) of the top films presented a balanced gender representation, with females making up between 45% and 54.9% of the speaking roles. Furthermore, less than 1% of characters in these movies identified as gender nonbinary.

The report pointed out a decrease in representation across various intersectional groups. In 2023, just 14 films were led by girls and women of color, which was less than the 18 such films from the previous year, but still more than the single movie in 2007 that had a woman of color as the main character. Regrettably, only one film in 2023 showcased a woman of color aged 45 or older in a significant role.

As a gamer, I found myself diving into a fascinating study that’s all about representation in movies. It delves into the number of films out of the 100 analyzed where women of color, specifically girls, were noticeably absent. This part is referred to as an “invisibility analysis.”

In the year 2023, a significant majority of 99 out of 100 films lacked female characters who were Native American (including American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders). Similarly, 81 films omitted Middle Eastern or North African female characters. The representation of Hispanic/Latina women was also lacking in 62 films, and 56 films failed to portray multiracial females. Forty-nine films did not include an Asian female character, while 39 missed the opportunity to feature Black female characters. Remarkably, only 12 movies did not have any white women or girls on screen. This data highlights a concerning trend in underrepresentation of various ethnicities and races in film.

As a movie enthusiast, I’m disappointed to note that although the representation of women directors in top films for 2023 (12%) slightly surpassed the figure for 2022 (9%), it is still significantly lower than what we saw back in 2007 (3%).

The research revealed that between 2007 and 2023, a total of 98 women directed films individually, compared to 878 men during the same period. Out of these female directors, just 25 were women of color. To date, only 123 movies have been made by women since 2007.

A similar issue was found among the writers of 2023’s top-grossing films. Out of 303 writers, 84.8 percent were men, while only 15.2 percent were women. The study notes that this hasn’t changed much throughout the years, as the percentage of women with writing credits in 2022 was 16.3 — only increasing slightly from 2007’s 11.2 percent.

As a passionate moviegoer, I’ve noticed a slight upward trend in the diversity of ethnic representation among protagonists. In 2023, an impressive 37 movies showcased leads or co-leads from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, which is an increase from the 31 films in 2022. Yet, this progress remains slightly ahead of the 35 films with such representation in 2021.

In the course of all spoken roles, Annenberg discovered that the proportion of white characters dropped noticeably, from 62% in 2022 to 56% in 2023, a decrease from the 78% recorded in 2007.

Over a 17-year period, the proportion of Asian characters markedly rose, climbing from 3% in 2007 to 18% in 2023. Interestingly, this figure was slightly higher at 16% in 2022. However, no notable changes were observed for other racial/ethnic groups during the same timeframe, according to the report.

In a comparable fashion, about 44% of the characters in this context are from underrepresented groups, which is quite close to the 41.1% of Americans who identify with such underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds within the U.S. population.

In the year 2023, just 2.2% of the main characters shown in the top 100 films had a portrayal of disability, which is similar to the 2.4% from 2015. Regrettably, 42 films didn’t include any characters with disabilities, and a staggering 75 films failed to represent female characters with disabilities.

In terms of representation on screen for the LGBTQ+ community, 2023 unfortunately did not include any transgender characters among the highest-earning films of the year. Additionally, there were fewer queer characters overall when compared to 2022, which had 87 LGBTQ+ characters in its top movies. Last year’s top films showcased a total of 60 LGBTQ+ characters: 20 were lesbian, 31 were gay, eight were bisexual, and only one represented another sexuality.

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2024-08-05 16:25