The Geena Davis Institute has unveiled a new study showing how menopause and aging are portrayed in the 100 top-grossing domestic films from 2009 to 2024 that prominently feature women ages 40 and older on screen.
Key findings in the study called, “Missing in action: Writing a new narrative for women in midlife on the big screen,” showed how menopause is nearly invisible: Of the 225 films prominently featuring a 40-plus female character released between 2009 and 2024, only 6% (or 14 films) mentioned menopause. These mentions were usually side comments. Only one film featured a prominent menopause storyline.
Furthermore, menopause was often used as a comedic device. When featured, it was used as a joke to explain women’s anger or mood swings, and even non-menopausal characters were assumed to be menopausal when they expressed anger.
The study also revealed that 40-plus female characters were appearing in fewer comedies, pointing to a strong link between menopause mentions and comedy.
The findings showed how general aging narratives were more frequent. Yet the narratives between men and women aging were vastly different. Women ages 40 and older on screen were twice as likely as men to have a narrative focused on physical aging (15% vs. 7%). Overall, 23 characters shown engaging in cosmetic treatments, 17 (74%) were women. Male characters’ treatments were minor (i.e., dye for graying hair, nose trimming, botox), while women’s treatments often involved surgery or fantastical interventions to restore youth (i.e., vaginal rejuvenation, brow lifts, liposuction).
Another finding showed the sad widow trope and how Hollywood narratives centered on grief and loneliness. In the 225 films that were analyzed, 19 featured “sad widows,” compared with eight featuring “sad widowers,” suggesting aging is more often framed as a story of loss for women than for men.
Findings showed there was a desire for better representation. Overall, 2 in 3 respondents (67%) agree on the importance of realistic portrayals of menopause on screen (72% men, 63% women). This signals a broad audience appetite for menopause stories that move beyond jokes or silence.
The report concluded that the absence of women over 50 in Hollywood, especially as romantic leads, likely reinforces negative stereotypes about women, aging and sexuality.
The study found that audiences across age, gender, and race want more realistic portrayals of menopause.
Madeline Di Nonno, President & CEO of the Geena Davis Institute said Hollywoood needs to do better. In a statement, Di Nonno said, “Womanhood is more than reproduction. One of the more damaging narratives about menopause is that it ‘feels like the finish line for women, whose value in society is being reduced to motherhood.’”
She went on to say, “Avoid characterizations of menopause that conflate womanhood with fertility, and work to provide a more nuanced and less reductive portrayal of womanhood that treats older women as multidimensional, fully fleshed-out characters. Laugh with menopausal women, not at them.”
The report will be unveiled at the Impact+Profit25 conference hosted by the SIE Society and Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs on Friday afternoon.
Actress Constance Zimmer, a panelist on at the conference commented on how menopause storylines almost never appear unless they’re comedic — and even then, they’re often inaccurate or dismissive. Zimmer called for Hollywood storytellers to be more authentic to female storytelling. In a statement, she said, ‘If we take my beloved character Quinn King for example, an unapologetic, revenge driven, crisis loving bad bitch who was clearly and silently going through perimenopause – i now know – having gone through it myself – that we missed so many layers to her story line. She wasn’t simply filled with rage – she was witnessing her entire life shift from the inside out. Menopause is not the side character – she is the leading lady.”
Dominique Debroux, producer of the documentary, “Wise Women” said, “The Geena Davis Institute’s data exposes these gaps, and the ‘Wise Women’ documentary adds the science showing that women’s contributions have always been far broader, strategic, communal, and essential to our successful evolution.” She went on to say, “The real barrier now is investment. There is no shortage of powerful stories about women’s identity, purpose, and wisdom. What’s missing is the willingness to finance them, somehow overlooking the size of the audience (70 million 50+ women just in the US & Canada). Hollywood needs to support stories that reflect women’s true range, not just their appearance.”
The study will be published here.
