Smith in USC News – “Black Characters”

According to a study performed by Faculty Fellow Stacy Smith, Hollywood movies directed by African Americans are significantly more likely to include African-American characters with speaking roles than movies not directed by African Americans. The report, co-authored by project administrator Marc Choueiti, also found that only one of the top 200 movies from 2007 and 2008 was directed by an African-American woman, according to the "Black Characters" report. "Black Characters" also quantifies the continuing, although slightly diminished, sexualization of black female movie roles versus black male movie roles. [Full article]……Continue Reading Smith in USC News – “Black Characters”

Smith in Newswise – Sexy Socialization

"These findings are troubling given that repeated exposure to thin and sexy characters may contribute to negative effects in some female viewers," Faculty Fellow Stacy Smith told Newswise. Smith studied society's sexualization of teenaged girls in film and in the corporate environment of Hollywood. "Such portrayals solidify patterns of appearance-based discrimination in the entertainment industry."……Continue Reading Smith in Newswise – Sexy Socialization

Stacy Smith on roles of women in film

Faculty Fellow Stacy Smith served as the lead researcher in a report studying the early sexualization of teen girls. Smith and her team analyzed the top 100 grossing films of 2008 to find correlations about the attitudes of teenagers to their older peers and the perception of women in film. USA Today featured an article on Smith's work, and can be read below. ———————————————————————- Film study: Men talk and women show skin by Nanci Hellmich When it comes to movie roles, women tend to be seen and not heard. An analysis of the 100 top-grossing movies of 2008 shows that……Continue Reading Stacy Smith on roles of women in film

Smith in FishbowlLA – “Gender roles”

Stacy L. Smith, Faculty Fellow, presented her research on "Gender in Media" at the Skirball Cultural Center in December. Smith's research examined the female role models that appear in family films and the frequency in which female characters appear in these movies. According to the Geena Davis Institute, 400 of the top grossing films released between 1990 and 2006 were analyzed. At that time, the ratio of male-to-female characters was determined to be 2.71-to-one. The article can be found on FishbowlLA…….Continue Reading Smith in FishbowlLA – “Gender roles”

Stacy Smith in Newsweek

Faculty Fellow Stacy Smith was featured in a Newsweek article about female presence in children's film. Smith, along with her colleague, Marc Choueiti studied 122 family films and found that only 29.7% of the characters were female. Smith's study was commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which has been compiling data on women in film…….Continue Reading Stacy Smith in Newsweek