(Newswire.net — May 2, 2015) — Geena Davis, an Academy Award winning Hollywood actress known for many films including Beetlejuice, is also very active in a not-for-profit charity which she herself contributes to and founded. The Institute on Gender in Media founded and advocated by Gina Davis is a research organization that specifically reviews media images targeting children aged 11 and younger.
The objective of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, is to seek a more balanced representation of gender, as presented to our youth, as seen in film, television and the media overall. They seek a greater gender equality. In addition to collecting a tremendous amount of research on gender, and how males and females have been represented over the past 20 years, the Institute also provides workshops, training sessions and educational programs. The educational programs are directed toward the upcoming generation of media content creators, the young people who have not yet achieved a place where they are influencing media images. The Institute
In an effort to reach-out to those who create the media images including film makers and television producers, the Institute collaborates with the decision makers, those who create the content. Most recently, in New York, on September 22, 2014, n Washington DC, on September 23 and in Los Angeles, on October 6, 2014, symposiums were held in an effort to promote and achieve gender balance in the media.
A recent study on gender bias in the film medium
The Institute, with support from UN Women and the Rockefeller Foundation, has initiated a global study by the research team at the University of Southern California, led by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Marc Choueiti and Katherine Pieper, Ph.D., at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The study analyzes films from across the developed world, from Australia, France, Germany, India, China, the UK, Brazil, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
Though women represent 50 percent of the world’s population, it may be no surprise to some, but women and girls are significantly underrepresented in film. Of the over 1,400 films reviewed in the study, one third to 38 percent of film speaking roles are female characters. This was found to be true across Brazil, South Korea and the UK. At the other end of the spectrum with a representation of 23.6 to 24.9 percent of their films from UK-US collaborations and films from India. Contrarily, South Korea had 50 percent of films with a co-lead or lead by a female, while films from China, Japan and Australia were revealed to have a 40 percent with a female lead, of the films analyzed.
Celebrating 20 years since its origin, the Beijing Platform for Action, where 189 countries signed-off with a commitment to advancing women’s rights. Looking back 20 years, depictions of women, in film roles, images and the like, show little progress and little change. Surprised? Change is slow. The Institute’s study has revealed that there has been little change in film for 50 years in terms of the number of female lead roles available.
One of the key characteristics found across most of the films, concerning how women are represented, shows women very often sexualized and scantily clad in those roles that are available. Of the films reviewed, several countries had no women represented in leading or co-lead roles. These counties are France, India and US/UK collaborated film projects.
It is no wonder that women, globally, are under-represented economically, in preferred jobs and where salaries are the highest, and politically in government. Gender-based stereotypes persist and will continue to do so, unless and until greater efforts are made to reach the youngest generations. The research alone is telling and the study’s results are both revealing and compelling, concerning who we are and what we believe about ourselves and those around us.
Girls deserve an equal chance to achieve their hopes and dreams, just like any boy might. Cultural differences, across nations, may present additional barriers to accepting equality for all. Needless to say, equality need not mean sameness. Fortunately, the world is rich with beautiful differences that make life colorful and interesting. The film and media industries have the opportunity to step to the front and help make those differences equally accessible.