ARE THERE MORE ROLES FOR MEN THAN FOR WOMEN IN THEATER PLAYS?

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates whether there are more roles written for men than those written for women in theater plays. A novel data set that is derived by the authors themselves by using the archives of Turkish State Theaters is employed. It is found in the paper that there are more roles written for man than those written for females in theater plays. Plays by female authors have a relatively higher ratio of female roles to male roles even though the number of female roles is smaller on average. Plays by Turkish authors do have a smaller ratio of female to male roles

Keywords

• Female actors, Male actors, Female representation, Theater, Turkish State Theaters