You can't be what you can't see
See a 2-minute trailer of Miss Representation here!
When young men and women are bombarded with media messages that portray women as sex objects and victims, is it any wonder that few women seek leadership positions in the United States? That’s the premise behind the 2011 documentary Miss Representation, a film that explores how the media’s misrepresentations of women have led to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence.
The Women’s Resource Center, in collaboration with Fort Lewis College, the Girl Scouts of Colorado and the American Association of University Women, will present a screening of Miss Representation at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Fort Lewis College Ballroom. Admission is free and open to the public thanks to the generous sponsorship of Alpine Bank; Red Willow Production Company; the AAUW; and Fort Lewis College’s Gender and Women’s Studies Program, Terry Bacon Leadership Center, Feminist Voice and Diversity Programs.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring local media representatives, Fort Lewis College faculty, and community members.
The Miss Representation event is the first in a series of presentations on media, gender, feminism and empowerment scheduled in honor of Women’s History Month in March. This year’s theme, “Women’s Education Is Women’s Empowerment,” focuses on women’s struggle to ensure that they and their daughters would have the same opportunities as men to attain an education. Durango’s celebration will take that theme one step further by offering programming that exposes how media shape cultural norms for women and how those norms create barriers to equal opportunity.
“In a world saturated by media, our young men and women are learning that a woman’s only value is in her sexuality, the way she dresses, her youth and beauty and not in her capacity to lead or inspire positive change in her community. When young women don’t see mainstream images of powerful women in leadership positions, they’re less likely to believe that it’s possible for them to attain leadership roles in their communities,” says Women’s Resource Center Director Liz Mora.
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.
“While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3 percent of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65 percent of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors,” Newsom writes on her Web site.
Newsom argues that more women need to enter media professions to create more balanced programming that’s representative of women’s real lives and potential as leaders.
“We especially encourage mothers to bring their high-school-aged daughters and sons to see the video and hear the panel discussion,” said Mora. “More than ever, our young people need to be media savvy and to understand that what they see and hear isn’t necessarily true.”
For more information about the Miss Representation event or other Women’s History Month presentations, contact Deborah Uroda at 247-1242 or members@wrcdurango.org.
