News Archive
Geena Davis: Taking a Stand
Is it a coincidence that the percentage of women in board seats continues to hover at 16 percent? Or that, despite all our efforts—and victories—there has been little increase in the overall percentage of women occupying high-level positions in business and government institutions? Could we be unconsciously programmed to maintain these levels? Recent studies by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media suggests that may just be the case. Read More…
Missing in Action – Step Up teen Seanna Viechweg attends the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Global Symposium
This past week, I had the honor of attending a global conference that focused on creating media with more positive representations of women and girls around the world. After being introduced to the concept of feminism just last year, and hearing that Geena Davis would be speaking, I could not wait to attend. Read More…
Geena Davis Institute study shows gender gap in film/TV is prevalent worldwide
Geena Davis is more than an actress, she’s an advocate for gender equality in film and TV. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media just released new data showing that women aren’t just getting a short shrift here in the U.S., but in movies all around the world. The news is grim. Fewer than 31 percent of all speaking parts go to women. American movies feature fewer female characters than movies in South Korea, Russia and China. Read More and Listen Online…
CBS: Geena Davis pushes for more women in the movies
Actress Geena Davis has taken on roles from a pirate to a president, but what really excites her is her Institute on Gender in Media, which just released a first-of-its-kind study on how women around the world are portrayed in film. Watch Video…
Geena Davis: Women ‘stalled’ in D.C.
Actress Geena Davis says the route to getting more women into public office lies not only in D.C — but in Hollywood. “We’re not showing female politicians in the entertainment media,” Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media, said in an interview. “There’s not enough women presidents and women senators and women governors and women Congress members in what we show to kids and what we see in general. If you don’t see something, it can’t become familiar to you, it doesn’t look normal.” Read More…
Geena Davis: Gender bias remains strong
In a USA TODAY interview, Geena Davis reviews the top-line findings of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media’s latest research. She discusses character gender prevalence by country, saying that US is far from the best in portraying women in a positive light. However, she said there were pockets of promise in the findings. Geena pointed to South Korea films as having females as 50% of lead characters. Watch Interview…
Global film industry perpetuates discrimination against women
The first-ever global study on female characters in popular films, launched today, reveals deep-seated discrimination and pervasive stereotyping of women and girls by the international film industry. The study was commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, with support from UN Women and The Rockefeller Foundation and conducted by Stacy L. Smith (PhD) and her research team at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. The investigation analyses popular films across the most profitable countries and territories internationally. Read More…
See First Photos of Geena Davis on Grey’s Anatomy
ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is poised to welcome the former commander in chief. Geena Davis has boarded ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and The Hollywood Reporter has the first look at the Oscar winner (The Accidental Tourist) making her rounds through Grey Sloan Memorial. Little is known about Davis’ role other than that the Thelma & Louise alum will have a major recurring arc in season 11 as a surgeon at the hospital previously known as Seattle Grace. Davis’ character makes her Grey’s Anatomy debut in the season 11 premiere, “I Must Have Lost It on the Wind,” which takes its title from Elton John’s song of the same name. Read More…
MAKERS Video Featuring Geena Davis
Geena Davis has made a career of supporting groundbreaking female characters. She made her Hollywood debut in “Tootsie,” starring opposite Dustin Hoffman. Davis won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in “The Accidental Tourist” and was nominated for Best Actress for her role in “Thelma & Louise.” She also starred as baseball player Dottie Hinson in “A League of Their Own.” More recently, she won a Golden Globe for her role as the first female President of the United States in ABC’s “Commander in Chief.” Geena Davis has made a career of strong female characters. She spoke to MAKERS about feminism, parenthood, and making it in Hollywood. Read More & Watch Video…
Geena Davis and YouTube Talk Gender Inequality in Entertainment
If you’ve been noticing something a little off about the films and television you’ve been watching lately, you’re not the only one. Academy Award winner and social activist Geena Davis has had her eye on the silver screen for a while, both as a viewer and active participant in the industry, and could no longer ignore the facts: Women on screen are represented less. For many, this dubious fact isn’t always immediately recognizable, because it’s been sold to us as an ingrained statistic since nearly the dawn of media. Read More…
