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Gender Discrepancy of Romance Movies
Introduction
I am conducting research on the gender discrepancies of the ten movie genres: action, animation, comedy, drama, family, horror, musical, mystery, romance, and sci-fi.
Source
My source is the IMDB movie rankings as they pertain to my top 10 movies of each genre. The movie rankings are weighted averages of individual rankings on a scale of 1 to 10 for each movie. Average rankings are broken down into men, women, and the following four age groups: under 18, 18-29, 30-44, and 45 and up.
Men vs. Women
The following two tables show the weighted average rankings for men and women respectively for each age range for each of the top 10 romance movies, as well as the averages of these numbers for all 10 films and for all age ranges.
Weighted Average Rankings for Men
movie |
<18 |
18-29 |
30-44 |
45+ |
total |
It's a Wonderful Life |
|
8.5 |
|
|
8.6 |
Casablanca |
8.7 |
8.8 |
8.8 |
9.2 |
8.8 |
The Graduate |
8.3 |
8.2 |
8.0 |
8.1 |
8.1 |
|
7.9 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
8.2 |
7.6 |
Grease |
6.8 |
6.4 |
6.8 |
6.5 |
6.6 |
When Harry Met Sally |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.6 |
7.6 |
7.6 |
Breakfast at Tiffany's |
8.1 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
Guys and Dolls |
7.5 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
7.3 |
7.1 |
Annie Hall |
8.2 |
8.3 |
8.2 |
7.8 |
8.2 |
Singin' in the Rain |
8.1 |
8.2 |
8.3 |
8.4 |
8.3 |
| total |
7.97 |
7.80 |
7.84 |
7.95 |
7.86 |
Weighted Average Rankings for Women
movie |
<18 |
18-29 |
30-44 |
45+ |
total |
It's a Wonderful Life |
|
8.3 |
|
|
8.4 |
Casablanca |
8.4 |
8.5 |
8.6 |
9.0 |
8.6 |
The Graduate |
5.5 |
8.1 |
7.7 |
8.1 |
7.9 |
West Side Story |
7.4 |
7.9 |
7.8 |
8.3 |
7.9 |
Grease |
7.8 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.4 |
7.7 |
When Harry Met Sally |
6.4 |
7.9 |
7.9 |
7.7 |
7.8 |
Breakfast at Tiffany's |
9.1 |
8.2 |
8.0 |
8.1 |
8.1 |
Guys and Dolls |
8.0 |
7.5 |
7.4 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
Annie Hall |
5.3 |
7.9 |
7.2 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
Singin' in the Rain |
6.9 |
8.7 |
8.3 |
8.7 |
8.6 |
| total |
7.14 |
8.07 |
7.90 |
8.11 |
8.01 |
Conclusion
Women 18 and over prefer romance movies. However, among teenagers, boys greatly prefer romance movies.
- Teens (under 18): 7.97 vs. 7.14 (+0.83)
- Young Adults (18-29): 7.80 vs. 8.07 (-0.27)
- Middle-Aged (30-44): 7.84 vs. 7.90 (-0.06)
- Older Adults (45+): 7.95 vs. 8.11 (-0.16)
Potential Sources of Error
There are several potential sources of error in this survey. Since the movie rankings on IMDB are voluntary, they do not necessarily (and most likely do not in fact) reflect the true opinions of moviegoers. Also, not all moviegoers visit IMDB, which further biases the results.
I was surprised by the unusually low ratings given by teenage girls for romance movies. Perhaps most teenage girls did not vote and those who did voted low. Another thing I noticed was that the number of teenage girls who voted on these films was far less than the number of teenage boys.
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