According to the promotional website for the new film, Miss Representation, American teenagers spend 10 hours and 45 minutes a day consuming various forms of media including television, music, movies, magazines and the internet. “Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in,” states the Miss Representation website, “Miss Representation uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see.”
And that reality, according to the film written, produced and directed by Stanford graduate Jennifer Siebel Newsom, includes a country that remains 90th in the world for women in national legislatures. A reality where women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media. A reality where 65% of women and girls have an eating disorder.
“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,” the website states.
Beyond the award winning film, which is set to premiere on October 20, 2011, at 9 pm EST on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Siebel Newsom and others working on the film have started an entire movement based on a call-to-action “that seeks to empower women and girls to challenge limiting labels in order to realize their potential, and to encourage men and boys to stand up to sexism.”
Opportunities within the Miss Representation campaign include an in-depth K-12 or University classroom curriculum, an internship program for those wishing to be advocates for the campaign, hosting a house party screening on October 20 or donating to the cause.
“I am confident that we’ll be successful with our movement because studies are proving the economic benefit of having more women in leadership in the government and corporate sector,” said Seibel Newsom in an interview with Ms. Magazine in August. “It’s better for productivity, creativity and the bottom line. I think empowering women is a no-brainer. The fact that we have men and women speaking out against sexism, I feel very optimistic that we’re going to be able to transform the culture.”