Women over 40 are twice as likely as men to have storylines focused entirely on physical aging. Common tropes still include the "sad widow" or characters defined purely by their relationship to younger protagonists.
Recent studies show a significant "plummet" in major female characters as they move from their 30s to their 40s. On broadcast programs, female leads drop from roughly 42% in their 30s to just 15% in their 40s. Women over 40 are twice as likely as
Despite its universality, menopause remains almost nonexistent in film. A 2025 study found that out of 225 films featuring a lead woman over 40, only 6% mentioned menopause, often using it as a punchline. 2. Growth Areas and "Year of the Woman" (2026) only 6% mentioned menopause