Cinema and Society - Investigation on the Impact of Gender Representation in Brazilian Films - Study Report

Aug 27, 2026

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Research examines how Brazilian audiences perceive gender representation and its effects in everyday life through qualitative focus groups in 2014 and a quantitative survey in 2015. Guided by questions about media influence, viewers’ views on gender and race portrayals, and whether entertainment should address social issues, the study analyzes reactions to specific film scenes and character situations. Findings map public concerns and desired changes for the entertainment industry and non-profit organizations, with emphasis on inequality, stereotype reinforcement, and representation gaps in Brazilian cinema.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages45

Reading Time1 h 53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research questions and context

Study Methodology

2014 Focus Groups

2015 Quantitative Survey

Findings

Public perceptions and desired media changes

Participant Recommendations

Interventions

Conclusion

Cinema and Society: Shaping our Worldview Beyond the Lens Investigation on the Impact of Gender Representation in Brazilian Films If she can see it, she can be it™ TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Study Methodology 5 Findings 9 Participant Recommendations 32 Conclusion 34 Interventions 36 INTRODUCTION This research is driven by three primary questions. First, what do Brazilian people of different backgrounds think about the inﬂuence of entertainment media in everyday life? Secondly, what do Brazilians think of gender and race representations in Brazilian media? Thirdly, should entertainment media address pressing social issues? Previous studies have documented media effects as well as gender and race bias in Brazilian media, but our study is the ﬁrst to assess whether Brazilians are aware of these biases. Across the globe, gender gaps in health, ﬁnance, education, and politics persist, impeding economic growth and social progress.1 Despite a push by the United Nations to champion gender equality, progress remains stagnant in media content worldwide. Gender representation in entertainment media matters. Previous research indicates that while media does not tell people what to think, it does tell us what to think about and how to think about it.2 Brazilian media powerfully inﬂuences what issues people focus on3 and what options they think are available for social change.4 In our groundbreaking 2014 research study Gender Bias Without Borders, we analyzed gender representations in popular ﬁlm across the ten largest theatrical territories and found that ﬁlmmakers perpetuate negative attitudes toward women and girls in both developed and developing countries.5 In general, we found that women are vastly underrepresented in ﬁlm and, when they are featured, their characters tend to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes. In Brazil, only 9. 1% of directors and 30.8% of screenwriters are women. Despite this low number of female directors, Brazil is comparatively better than every country except the U. K. and China when it comes to female directors. Brazil is also comparatively better than most countries when it comes to female ﬁlm writers. One-in-three (30 .8%) writers is female, putting the country third in line behind the U. K. (58 .8%) and Australia (33 .3%) . Brazil has more female ﬁlm producers (47 . 2%) than any other country in the study. Out of eleven countries in our study, Brazil has the most positive gender ratio for women behind the camera: 1.7 men for every woman in the ﬁlm industry. Of the eleven territories in the study, Brazil is second only to the U. K. when it comes to the percentage of ﬁlms that feature female characters. Women comprise 37. 1% of all ﬁlm characters in Brazilian ﬁlm and one-in-ﬁve ﬁlms feature a female lead or co-lead. Just under 20% of ﬁlms present a gender balanced cast. When women are included in Brazilian ﬁlms, they are rarely shown in positions of power. Only 25.4% of women in Brazilian ﬁlms are portrayed as working, compared to 72.8% of men. Fewer than 20% of all female roles depict women as business executives, political ﬁgures, or other professionals. Female characters are most commonly presented in traditionally feminine professions, such as teaching and nursing. Women and girls in Brazilian cinema are often hyper-sexualized. Women are nearly three times more likely to appear in sexually revealing clothing or be nude onscreen than male characters (28 . 7% compared to 11. 5%) and twice as likely to be very thin (42 .0% compared to 18.6%) . Previous research indicates that girls and women who grow up with hyper-sexualized media culture are at a higher risk of developing body image issues and eating disorders.6 For this follow up study, we explore how Brazilians of different backgrounds perceive the content of entertainment media and how they believe it affects their lives. We asked boys, girls, men, and women to name their role models within the entertainment wor

FAQs

What core questions drive this research on Brazilian media?

The study asks how entertainment media influences everyday life, how Brazilians view gender and race portrayals in Brazilian media, and whether entertainment should address pressing social issues.

How were participants recruited and how was data collected?

Qualitative focus groups ran in 2014 in São Paulo, followed by a quantitative survey in 2015 to test whether focus-group themes generalize to the broader public.

What do the findings focus on regarding viewer expectations?

Results highlight public perceptions of film and television in Brazil and identify changes viewers want in media representations, particularly regarding gender and race.

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Jiven