MISS REPRESENTATION AIMS TO END SEXISM IN THE MEDIA AND EM-POWER WOMEN
Miss Representation first premiered in the documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival where it caught the eye of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It made its television debut as part of the OWN documentary film club in October 2011, with over 1.3 million people tuning in to its multiple airings. The Vision Forum presents a special screening of this documentary on Tuesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Transfiguration’s Performance Hall. Admission is free, but donations to help the Vision Forum defray costs will be greatly appreciated. Light refreshments will be served and there will be a discussion following the movie.
History Behind the Documentary
Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
Miss Representation includes stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics like Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Jackson Katz, Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem. The film offers startling facts and statistics that will leave audiences shaken and armed with a new perspective.
“We are thrilled to have so many outreach opportunities for Miss Representation. This film was made to be a change agent in our culture, to inspire both women and men to recognize women’s collective voice, leadership capacity and equal rights,” says Newsom.
In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality – and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the U.S. is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating.
The distribution of the film has been the catalyst for a social action campaign led by MissRepresentation.org. The campaign seeks to empower women and girls and provide them with new opportunities to realize their full potential. The group is igniting a cross-generational movement to shift the cultural mindset of communities, interrupt and stop patterns of sexism, change the way women and girls are represented in the media and ensure a tipping point that will lead to gender parity in leadership throughout the United States. Join the campaign at www.missrepresentation.org.
About Girls’ Club Entertainment
Girls’ Club Entertainment was founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom – actress, film-maker, and former First Lady of San Francisco. It was formed as an umbrella entertainment company to develop and produce independent films with strong social, political, and cultural significance focused primarily on empowering women.