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Women still sidekicks in action flicks: researcher

(Special)-Despite an increase in tough and even violent female characters in American films, women continue to be shown as sidekicks to more dominant male heroes.

This is the conclusion from a new study by Kaplan University Katy Gilpatric, who points to continued gender stereotypes set within a violent framework of contemporary American cinema.

Her study, "Violent female action characters in contemporary American cinema," will be published in the upcoming issue of Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, a monthly refereed journal that deals with interdisciplinary behavioural science and gender-related issues. Gilpatric analyzed the portrayal of female characters in American action films to see if their roles transcended traditional gender roles or represented gender stereotypes in a new guise.

She studied 112 of the most popular, highest-grossing films released between 1991 and 2005 that featured violent female characters. Her study focused on gender stereotypes, as well as type, demographics and quantity of stereotypical depictions and violence.

Now, she is focusing on one particular aspect that her study revealed: the high percentage of women who are killed off in American action films at the hands of men, often in a self-sacrificing way. This phenomenon is driving her current research, slated for release this summer.

As well as providing online instruction for Iowa-based Kaplan University, Gilpatric teaches at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, dividing her time between there and Canada.