Last month a headline-making study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed just how overrepresented white male film critics were among the reviews of 2017’s top movies. (Spoiler alert: They were crazy overrepresented.) Now another report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s Dr. Martha M. Lauzen details the disparity between male and female reviewers in the coverage of spring 2018’s films. Unsurprisingly, the results are fairly discouraging.

“Thumbs Down 2018: Film Critics and Gender, and Why It Matters” analyzed 4,111 reviews written by 341 critics from print, broadcast, and online outlets and whose work appears on Rotten Tomatoes. The study only considers reviewers who have written at least three reviews during March, April, and May 2018.

Not only do male film critics outnumber females, there are two male critics for every one woman. Men penned 71 percent of spring 2018’s film reviews, and women 29 percent. Overall, there are dramatically more men than women in each job title and media outlet.

Also, as is usually the case, women of color were especially underrepresented. Fourteen percent of female critics are women of color and three percent are of an unknown racial/ethnic identity. As for male critics, only nine percent are minorities, and another nine percent are of an unknown racial/ethnic identity.

Lack of representation among women critics isn’t the only problem. Women critics tend to pay more attention to movies centered on women as well as those made by women. Fifty-one percent of women-written reviews are about films with at least one female protagonist, as compared to 37 percent of men’s reviews. Twenty-five percent of women-reviewed films are from a female filmmaker versus 10 percent of male-written reviews.

This suggests that fewer women reviewers means less overall coverage of women-made films — which is an issue. Whether we realize it or not, film criticism makes an impact on the movies we see and consider worth our time.

If female voices aren’t being heard in criticism, there’s less of a chance the female voices in film will be heard. In order for women filmmakers to find parity in Hollywood, their movies must be covered. And, as “Thumbs Down 2018” indicates, women reviewers are usually the ones who provide the coverage.

The study’s main findings are below. The entire report is available here.

• The majority of print, broadcast, and online film reviewers in the U.S. are male. There are approximately 2 male reviewers for every 1 female reviewer. Men comprise 68% and women 32% of all film reviewers.
• On average, men wrote slightly more reviews than women during spring 2018 (13 vs. 11). Men wrote 71% and women 29% of all reviews.
• Male writers outnumber female writers in every job title category. For example, men comprise 77% and women 23% of film critics. Men account for 68% and women 32% of freelancers.
• In every type of media outlet, male reviewers dramatically outnumber female reviewers. For example, men account for 70% and women 30% of individuals writing for trade publications such as Variety and The Wrap. Men comprise 68% and women 32% of reviewers writing for newspapers.
• Men comprise the majority of those writing reviews about films in every genre. For example, men write 78% and women 22% of reviews about horror films. Men write 70% and women 30% of reviews about dramas.
• A larger proportion of films reviewed by women than by men feature female protagonists. 51% of reviews written by women but 37% of reviews written by men are about films featuring at least one female protagonist. Conversely, a higher proportion of the reviews written by men than by women are about films with exclusively male protagonists. 63% of reviews written by men but 49% of reviews written by women are about films featuring male protagonists only. It is unclear whether these differences are due to the preferences of writers or assignments made by editors.
• 83% of all female critics are white, 14% are minorities, and 3% have an unknown racial/ethnic identity. 82% of all male critics are white, 9% are minorities, and 9% have an unknown racial/ethnic identity.
• On average, women reviewers award higher ratings than men to films with female protagonists. Women writers award an average rating of 74% and males an average rating of 62% to films with female protagonists. The two sets of critics differ less in their ratings of films with male protagonists. Women writers award an average of 73% and men 70% to films with male protagonists.
• A larger proportion of films reviewed by women than by men are directed by women. 25% of films reviewed by women but 10% of films reviewed by men have female directors. Conversely, 90% of films reviewed by men but 75% of films reviewed by women have male directors. It is unclear whether these differences are due to the preferences of writers or assignments made by editors.
• When reviewing films directed by women, female writers are more likely than males to mention the name of the director in their reviews and to speak about the director in exclusively positive ways. Female reviewers mention the name of a woman director in 89% of their reviews and males in 81% of their reviews. Further, female critics make only positive comments about those women directors in 52% of their reviews. Men make exclusively positive comments about women directors in 38% of their reviews.