Geena Davis hasn't surfaced in a major motion picture in recent years, but the actress has certainly been busy. The "Thelma and Louise" star can add another title to her resume - passionate women's advocate. In 2007, she founded The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Studies, which focuses on increasing the number of female characters and fighting gender stereotypes in TV shows and movies aimed at girls ages 11 and younger.
Speaking at the Women's Conference on Tuesday, the 53-year-old member of MENSA said she was disturbed after noticing the lack of female characters in the movies and TV shows her children were watching. Davis is now working to change the representation of women in children's media but says the problems is deeply rooted in U.S. culture.
"Hollywood is literally run on the concept that women want to watch stories about men and men don't want to watch stories on women," she said. "Our hands are literally tied by the fact that men aren't interested in women's stories."
Davis says change can start when women pay attention and share what they see with others.
"I feel strongly that you can't rely on change happening in the natural course of things," she said. "Unless people are very active pushing and noticing this phenomena, things won't change."
"There's terrific energy when women gather together," she added. "With so many women working so hard, we can cause dramatic change."
- Kelly Puente
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
politics. A newcomer to the Press-
Kris Hanson reports on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
covering environmental issues, economic triumphs and
pitfalls and trade trends of America’s largest port.
He also writes a weekly column “On The Waterfront”,
appearing Tuesdays, and also produces an occassional video
and column titled “On The Job,” which follows the hard-working
men and women who keep Southern California’s economy humming.
Karen Robes Meeks came to work for the Press-
Leave a comment