Examining the Role and Portrayal of Women in Mainstream Media: A Film Screening of Miss Representation

Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/12/2012
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

On November 12, in advance of the 2013 conference “Body as Battleground: Why the Law Continues to Fail Women,” the Center for Media Law and Policy is partnering with the UNC Conference on Race, Class, Gender & Ethnicity, Women in Law, Domestic Violence Action Project, Child Action, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and the Lambda Law Students Association to present the film Miss Representation, written, directed and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The showing is part of a week long documentary film festival, showcasing award-winning films about contemporary legal issues that implicate women’s rights.

The synopsis of Miss Representation:

Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film 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.

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 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% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.

Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.”

View the trailer. More information on the screening is available here.