The analysis evaluates media on criteria that include the basic representation of women, female agency, power and authority, the male gaze, and issues of gender and sexuality.
Johanson's 2015 study, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, compiled statistics for every film released in 2015, and all those nominated for Oscars in 2014 or 2015.
[2] The analysis was developed by MaryAnn Johanson, also known as the FlickFilosopher, a film critic for a wide range of sources, both online and in print.
Each category also considers whether or not the character is a person of color and if a male protagonist could be cast as a woman without having any significant impact on the film.
The tests also consider whether or not a secondary female character grows, changes, or learns as part of the story, whether or not the woman is solely there to support the journey of the male characters, whether or not the woman is one of several standard stereotypes, and whether it is necessary for a film to exclude women from certain types of movies or roles.
It also asks if the role portrays female authority in a positive light or does it bolster the idea that power and leadership are inappropriate or unfeminine for a woman, or damaging to her life.
It also considers whether the movie presents female characters as nude or partially nude in a manner out of proportion with the way men are presented, whether women are shot with gratuitous emphasis on their sexual characteristics, and the degree in which portrayals of women are sexualized compared to their male counterparts.