Social Characters: The Hierarchy of Gender in Contemporary English-Language Fiction

Across a variety of cultural fields, researchers have identified a near ubiquitous underrepresentation and decentralization of women. This occurs both at the level of who is able to produce cultural works and who is depicted within them. Women are less likely to be directors of Hollywood films and also less likely to have starring roles. Women writers are less likely to be reviewed in major book review outlets as well as do the reviewing. Women are considerably less likely to be cited as sources within the news and be represented as authors in newspaper bylines. And women's lives are less likely to be written about in public forums like Wikipedia.