Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis brought her message of gender equity in the media to Little Rock last week in a lecture hosted by the Clinton School and the Clinton Foundation.
The star of “Thelma and Louise,” “A League of Their Own” and other films, Davis is founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media, which conducts research and advocacy focused on changing female portrayals and gender stereotypes in children’s media and entertainment.
Davis’ Little Rock speech garnered attention from a number of media outlets, including the Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt from the Post’s article:
At a program sponsored by theWilliam J. Clinton Foundation and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service Davis said that research shows that there are fewer female characters in shows small children watch — and even those often wear skimpy clothes with tiny waists.
Most animated girls are royalty, a nice gig if you can get it, Davis joked.
But the issue is not to be taken lightly. Males outnumber females 3 to 1 in family films, according to research by Davis’ institute. From 2006 to 2009, no female character was depicted in a G-rated family film in the field of medical science or law, or as a business or political leader.Even more startling? Research shows that the more television girls watch, the fewer options they feel they have, Davis said.
The “Thelma and Louise” star said that that groundbreaking 1991 film, written by Callie Khouri, changed the course of her life.
Davis played Thelma, the suffering Arkansas wife who craves freedom from a controlling husband, while her co-star Susan Sarandon was Louise, a woman always in the driver’s seat of life – or so it seemed.
The movie won critical acclaim, and also inspired a lot of criticism.
“Oh my God, women have guns,” Davis said to laughter from the crowd.
Click here to watch video of Davis’ lecture.
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