I want to be Geena Davis when I grow up

Media is powerful, there is no denying that. It has the ability to shape the way we see the world.  As kids, it tells us what is possible and what is real.

Growing up as a boy, I saw in TV and movies that I could be anything I wanted to be: from an international super spy and top scientist to a rockstar playboy; the sky was the limit. I had a hard time understanding why people made such a fuss about representation (hello blindspot!). It took years of curious exploration and practicing empathy to start to understand why representation matters

But I was never aware of the hard data behind this issue until I saw: This changes everything. A documentary that provides an investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives, and artists in the Industry.

The reality is that Hollywood has been historically mostly dominated by white male decision-makers. From writers to producers, directors, and actors. The majority of the stories we have seen have been crafted & told by men, for men, even if their stories include other identities, resulting in a lot of misrepresentation.

This has had a massive impact on generations of girls and LGBTQA+  people worldwide. Where their representation has been used as punch lines, sexy props, sidekicks, and in every way secondary to the narrative of the man’s story.

These representations are inevitably internalized, by everyone, indifferent of gender, subconsciously and involuntarily, we accept these representations as real.

Geena Davis saw that problem, and she saw the influence she could have in solving it.

When she tried to confirm what she saw with others around,  others didn’t seem to see the same reality she did. She often heard it was probably just how she felt about it, and not how it really was.

She knew she needed data to prove her point.  So, she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004

"The Institute is the only research-based organization working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media" - as described on their site.

The institute collaborated with other researchers from Google to create algorithms that could process millions of hours of tv shows and movies to identify patterns in gender disparities for screen time, lines, actors, writers, directors, producers.

Results of their first research were staggering, fewer than 28% of the speaking characters (both real and animated) were female. Fewer than 17% of characters in crowd scenes were female. More than 83% of the film’s narrators were male.

With the momentum of the research results, the institute has been able to convince key stakeholders to make changes in the representation standards of major media producers and broadcasters.

The Institute achieved 2 of its primary goals in 2020: achieving gender parity for female lead characters in the top 100 largest grossing family films and the top Nielsen rated children’s television programming.

Representation is much more than just doing right by women, but Geena Davis effectively harnessed her power, used her influence and privilege, and created meaningful positive impact.

Don't you also want to be like Geena Davis when you grow up?

I know I do.