News Archive
Caught Caring: The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
It’s often easy to forget that lifelong beliefs about gender and race can be shaped by something as innocent as a cartoon. Several years ago, when Geena Davis began watching preschooler television programming and G-rated movies with her now 7 ½-year-old daughter Alizeh Keshvar, she was shocked not so much by what she saw — but instead by what she didn’t see. “It jumped out at me,” she recently explained to the Sydney Morning Herald. “There was this huge gender gap.” Read More…
Geena Davis Wants To See More Women, Girls Onscreen
Actress Geena Davis noticed a strange thing when she started watching children’s TV shows and movies with her daughter Alizeh six years ago: There weren’t that many girls and women on the screen. So Davis tells the Sydney Morning Herald she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2005. Institute researchers examined the 100 top-grossing G-rated films between 1990 to 2005. Read More…
Magdalena de Suecia, Sarah Ferguson y Geena Davis, por la igualdad de género
Todas para una y una para todas. Ha sido el lema de estas tres mujeres que junto a diferentes organizaciones y fundaciones en pro de la mujer han defendido en Naciones Unidas la igualdad de género. La princesa Magdalena, la Duquesa de York y la actriz Geena Davis han reclamado la importancia de la educación en niños y niñas para evitar la discriminación y la violencia contra las mujeres en este encuentro que se celebró ayer en la sede de la organización bajo el nombre Compromiso filantrópico para promover la igualdad de género y la concesión de poderes a las mujeres. Read More…
USC Annenberg Study Shows Recent Top Films Lack Females on Screen and Behind Camera
A recent study of the 100 top-grossing films of 2007 by the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism found that females continue to be a large minority both on the screen and behind the camera. However, when women are decision-makers behind the scenes, the number of female characters in a film increases. The research, led by communication professor Stacy L. Smith and her team, showed that only 29.9 percent of the 4,379 speaking characters identified in the films were female, while 83 percent of all directors, writers and producers were male. Read More…
Academy-Award Winning Actress Addresses Press Conference on Gender Equality
Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actress and founder of non-profit organization Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, addresses a press conference on “Engaging philanthropy to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment”, at UN Headquarters. View Photo…
Geena Davis Targets Male-Dominated Children’s Entertainment
Six years ago, Geena Davis starting watching children’s TV and videos with her then two-year-old daughter. Davis thought she’d find cute, educational fare; instead she found a disturbing gender imbalance. Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and commissioned studies concerning children’s programming. (Today, she’ll give a closing keynote address at a United Nations event about gender equality and women’s empowerment.) The statistics in the SMH piece are startling. Read More…
No place for women, even for preschoolers
Geena Davis is an Oscar winner, Mensa member, lingerie model, Swedish speaker and Olympic archer, not to mention star of the upcoming Australian film Accidents Happen. For her next trick, the mother of three is redressing the gender imbalance in the movies. It all started six years ago, when Davis’s daughter Alizeh was a toddler. “When she was about two I started watching G-rated videos and little kids’ preschool programming,” Davis told the Herald. Read More…
Watch Geena Davis Speak at the United Nations
On February 22, 2010, Geena Davis delivered the closing keynote address during the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special event: "Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment."
- Watch the U.N. Press Conference on YouTube
Geena’s statement starts at 13:28
- Watch the U.N. Special Event (requires RealPlayer)
Geena’s closing keynote address starts at 2:35:33
- Read the Final Report on Engaging Philanthropy to Promote
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (PDF)
About this Special Event
On February 22, 2010, Academy Award-winning actor and advocate Geena Davis will deliver the closing keynote address during the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special event: "Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment," which is being co-organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), in collaboration with the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP).
Ms. Davis is a partner with UNIFEM in the effort to change the way media represents women and girls, to encourage media to present and investigate issues of grave importance to women and to use a "gender" lens when reporting. As the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDIGM) and its programming arm, See Jane, Ms. Davis brings her media expertise to advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The event emphasizes the benefit of partnerships between the United Nations organizations, governments, he private sector and civil society, and highlights key examples of what can be accomplished working together. The programme, opened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, feature leaders from the United Nations, global philanthropy, and private enterprise speaking on the crucial role of public/private partnerships in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
As the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDIGM) and its programming arm, See Jane, Ms. Davis is a compelling choice to speak on gender equity and women’s empowerment. The mission of GDIGM is to engage and educate creators of media content for children with the message that stark gender inequities exist in media aimed at children. Davis strongly believes that gender representation matters in children’s media, and that having a fair representation of female characters would play a critical role in advancing gender equity and women’s empowerment.
For additional details on this special event, visit:
Geena Davis at the United Nations
On February 22, 2010, Geena Davis delivered the closing keynote address during the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special event: "Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment." Click here for Event Details and to Watch Video of Geena Speaking at this event.
On June 28, 2010, Geena Davis presented key policy outcomes from the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
With few exceptions, girls on film are still eye candy, study shows
Is Tinker Bell too sexy? Is she prone to fits of jealousy? Is the little pixie unassertive? A recent study shows that the film industry is still stuck on portraying females as eye candy and that women continue to be depicted in negative images and stereotypes. The study, commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, also found that women are vastly underrepresented in films. Read More…
