September 15, 1998

Media Contact: José A. Alvarez (619) 594-2585

 

Employment and Equality:

New study reveals that women are underrepresented in prime-time shows

 

During the 1997-98 prime-time television season, viewers were more likely to see an extraterrestrial than they were a female Latino character. This is one of the conclusions of a newly released study by Martha M. Lauzen, professor of communication at San Diego State University. The report concludes that women were underrepresented on screen and behind the scenes in the 1997-98 top-rated prime-time shows.

"The study dispels the myth that things are getting better for women in TV," said Lauzen indicating that behind the scenes, the number of women working in powerful roles declined and not a single female director of photography could be found on any of the programs analyzed.

For her study, Dr. Lauzen examined the on-screen and behind-the-scenes representation of women in the top 100 prime-time entertainment programs of the first 12 weeks of the 1997-1998 television season. One episode of each program was randomly selected and taped during the period of January 4, 1997, through February 28, 1998. Her analysis provided the following conclusions regarding the representation of women:

On-Screen:

· Women accounted for 39% of all characters in the top-rated programs of the 1997-98 prime-time season. Women comprised 38% of all major characters (i.e., those essential to plot development).

 

· Fully 65% of all characters were in their 20s and 30s. The number of characters dropped precipitously from 43% in their 30s to 12% in their 40s. The percentage of male characters in their 40s (22%) was almost double that of female characters (12%).

 

· Approximately 81% of female characters were white, 12% were African-American, 2% were Asian and 1% were Hispanic. Viewers were more likely to see an extraterrestrial (2%) on television than they were a female Latino character.

 

Behind the Scenes:

 

· Overall, women comprised only 21% of all creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors, and directors of photography in the top-rated programs.

· The percentage of female executives producers, producers, directors, and writers has declined from 28% in the 1995-96 season to 23% in the 1997-98 season.

· On the programs analyzed, women fared best as producers (29%), followed by writers (20%), executive producers (19%), creators (18%), editors (15%), directors (8%) and directors of photography (0%).

· When considering behind-the-scenes employment by program genre, with one exception (editors), women were more likely to work on situation comedies than dramas.

 

The Relationship Between Women Behind The Scenes and Women on Screen:

· Overall, women working behind the scenes influenced on-screen portrayals of female characters.

· When a program had no women executive producers, female characters accounted for only 36% of all characters. When a program had at least one woman executive producer, female characters accounted for 42% of all characters. The presence of one or more women executive producers increased the percentage of female characters 6 percentage points.

· The presence of at least one female executive producer on a program doubled the number of female writers. On programs with no female executive producers, female writers accounted for only 13% of all writers. Women comprised 27% of all writers on programs with at least one female executive producer.

The findings of this study are similar to those of a report released by Dr. Lauzen earlier this year. In her previous study, Dr. Lauzen examined the status of women in the top 100 films of 1987, 1992, and 1997 and concluded that women accounted for 21% of executive producers, 20% of producers, 15% of editors, 13% of writers, 5% of directors and no single female director of photography.

 

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Dr. Martha Lauzen is a professor of communication at San Diego State University and specializes on women and mass communication and mass communication and society. For a complete copy of "Employment and Equality: Assessing the Status of Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes in the 1997-98 Prime-Time Season" and an interview with Dr. Lauzen, call (619) 594-2585.