“Empire’s” Cookie Lyon, “Law & Order: SVU’s” Olivia Benson and “Game of Thrones’” Daenerys Targaryen are the most popular female characters on American television, according to a new study.
Entertainment marketing firm Trailer Park partnered with research-based consultancy QC Strategy to conduct the online survey, exploring on-screen portrayals of women on TV and how audiences respond to them. The study titled “Nobody’s Damsel: A Study on Modern Women on TV and the Audiences Who Watch Them” turned up some fascinating findings.
Research showed that across most age groups of both genders, “Law & Order: SVU’s” lead detective (Mariska Hargitay) ranked highest as the most preferred female character on TV. The one exception was the 18-24 age group, that ranked “Game of Thrones’” Mother of Dragons, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), as their most preferred. “Empire’s” Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) also ranked high among all demographics, while 13-17 year olds, described as Gen Z, also ranked “Pretty Little Liars” characters Aria (played by Lucy Hale) and Hanna (Ashley Benson).
The study also examined the disparities in age groups and what they want out from their TV shows. Most notably, younger audiences prefer nontraditional gender roles in their characters. For example, Gen Z audiences were found more likely to want to watch women as doctors and presidents, and men involved in relationship-driven storylines.
One question asked whether respondents would watch a show about a doctor. Older millennials aged 24-35 were 15% more likely to say yes if the show featured a male lead, while younger millennials aged 18-24 and Gen Z aged 13-7 over-indexed the average of people who said they would be interested in a female-led version of the same show.
The study also found that younger respondents more strongly self-identified as feminists, which may have an impact in their preferences for nontraditional gender roles on TV.
The poll included twelve hundred respondents, a nationally represented sample equally divided between men and women. The people sampled were 13+ years old, watched at least seven hours of television a week and watched at least one show featuring a female lead.
The study comes as Hollywood continues to come under pressure for under-representing women both in front of and behind the camera.
The number of women TV directors in primetime increased by a mere two percent last season, according to a report released by the Directors Guild of America in August. That’s not real progress, nor was there any for minority directors, whose numbers declined by one percent.