New 2025 research from the Geena Davis Institute highlights how Hollywood handles midlife:
In 2025, not a single top-grossing film featured a woman of color aged 45 or older in a leading or co-leading role. 🧠 Stereotypes & "The Menopause Gap"
On broadcast and streaming, female characters drop from 46% of speaking roles in their 30s to just 15% in their 40s. milf mature lingerie
There is a massive "blind spot" between what mature women spend and what they see on screen.
Mature female characters are twice as likely as men to be defined by narratives focused on physical aging or cosmetic procedures. New 2025 research from the Geena Davis Institute
Women aged 60 and older are almost entirely erased, making up only 2% of major female characters in top-grossing 2025 films, compared to 8% for men in the same age bracket.
Writing a new narrative for women in midlife on the big screen Mature female characters are twice as likely as
Female representation in film and television hits a significant drop-off precisely as actors enter their 40s.