Lizzo Knows – and So Do You – that Media Impacts How People Judge Their Value
At the 2022 Emmys, I was honored to accept the Governors Award on behalf of my Institute. It was deeply moving to be recognized by our peers for issues we have been fighting for since 2004 – equality, diversity and inclusion in media.
Lizzo also received an Emmy that night – for her show “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.” In her acceptance speech, she said something that speaks so clearly to the need of the Institute’s work. Lizzo said:
“When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re going to see that person… but it’s going to have to be you.’”
Lizzo knows – and you know – that the media can directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world. Through the generosity of so many, we’ve made incredible progress in expanding representation. But there is so much work still to do when it comes to more inclusion and better representation of women and nonbinary people, people of color, LGBTQIA+ identity, people 50 and older, people with disabilities, and people with large body types.
Your support is critical to our ability to keep pushing forward. Will you make a donation today?
Your generous gift will support:
- Public research projects. Studios and creators use our data from areas of focus (gender, race, LGBTQIA+ identity, disability, age 50+ and large body types) to make real-world changes that have a far-reaching impact on what our children think is possible.
- Spellcheck for Bias.® Our continued development of this intervention tool analyzes scripts pre-production. We help our studio partners identify opportunities for greater representation and to spot biases, tropes and stereotypes, representation issues, harmful language, and potential cultural inaccuracies before they ever show up on screen.
- Education. In partnership with universities and the Bentonville Film Festival Foundation we educate the next generation of content creators on the challenging effects of stereotyping, unconscious bias, and representation imbalance.
There are many sectors of our society in which true equality may take many years to achieve, but there’s one space where parity can be reached virtually overnight — and it is on screen.
Please help us continue this important work with your tax deductible contribution today!
With gratitude,
Geena Davis
Founder and Chair
