youngmanhattanite: 92y: Geena Davis Says Girl Characters Mostly Stereotypes Speaking to a packed auditorium at Pixar Animation Studios, Davis spoke about her work to create a cultural shift in American media – ending what appears to be insidious gender bias in movies and television aimed at kids, which she believes is sending the damaging message that girls are less valued in society. “The more TV a girl watches,” Davis said, “the more limited she believes her opportunities will be.” This isn’t an opinion based on anecdotes. The nonprofit charity she founded, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, studied 15 years of G-rated movies and discovered that girl characters had very little screen time compared to boys: There were three male characters for every one female. Of the characters who were girls, Davis said most were eye candy, stereotypes or hyper-sexualized – and that’s in films made for children 11 years old and younger. Research shows that repeated exposure to such images not only damages girls’ self-esteem, it also leads to sexist bias in boys, Davis said. We’re delighted Geena Davis and Soledad O’Brien have been added to the 92Y Mashable Social Good Summit on Monday. Tix are still available. We’re so there. Us, too.

youngmanhattanite:

92y:

Geena Davis Says Girl Characters Mostly Stereotypes
Speaking to a packed auditorium at Pixar Animation Studios, Davis spoke about her work to create a cultural shift in American media – ending what appears to be insidious gender bias in movies and television aimed at kids, which she believes is sending the damaging message that girls are less valued in society.

“The more TV a girl watches,” Davis said, “the more limited she believes her opportunities will be.”

This isn’t an opinion based on anecdotes. The nonprofit charity she founded, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, studied 15 years of G-rated movies and discovered that girl characters had very little screen time compared to boys: There were three male characters for every one female.

Of the characters who were girls, Davis said most were eye candy, stereotypes or hyper-sexualized – and that’s in films made for children 11 years old and younger. Research shows that repeated exposure to such images not only damages girls’ self-esteem, it also leads to sexist bias in boys, Davis said.

We’re delighted Geena Davis and Soledad O’Brien have been added to the 92Y Mashable Social Good Summit on Monday. Tix are still available.

We’re so there.

Us, too.