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Entity reports on women in Hollywood gaining momentum, with female protagonists - like in “Hidden Figures” up 37 percent.

It’s been a banner year for women in Hollywood, with bada— ladies leading box office hits like “Hidden Figures,” “Rogue One” and “The Girl on the Train.”

Even the number of female protagonists has gone up since last year, making up 29 percent of the 100 top domestic grossing films of 2016. That’s an increase of seven percent – not that much, but we’ll take it.

Women also made up 37 percent of major characters in films, which is an increase of three percent, and just like the protagonist number, represents a historical high.

This should all make perfect sense, since most moviegoers are female, and another study – from FiveThirtyEight – has already shown that films that pass the Bechdel Test actually make more money at the box office.

Entity shows the Bechdel Test, which helps gauge gender bias in the media, as women in Hollywood gain ground.

The Bechdel Test shows how to gauge gender bias in the media, as women in Hollywood gain ground. (Allison Bechdel’s ‘The Rule’ strip from 1985 installment of comic “Dykes to Watch Out For”)

The Bechdel Test evaluates gender bias in a film by asking if it features two or more women talking about something other than a man. And the study showed that movies earned $2.68 per each dollar spent when passing the Bechdel Test over $2.45 per dollar spent on a failed movie.

Unfortunately, after looking at 2,500 characters from the top 100 domestic-grossing films from last year, the study found that women only compromised 32 percent of the speaking characters. That’s down one percent from last year.

But box office successes like “Moana” and “Bad Moms” show that female characters and women-led films do connect with audiences. “We have now seen over and over and over that female characters, when done well, they’re good box office,” Martha Lauzen, director for the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film and author of the study, told Variety.

She was also made hopeful by the more varied roles now offered to women, who are no longer completely reliant on romantic comedies. “Gone are the days when women were only featured figuring out ways to land Mr. Right… Their fate is not tied to the fortunes of a single genre, and that suggests a more stable pattern,” she said.

So maybe it’s a few steps forward… and another one back. But that’s still progress!

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