When the new documentary film Miss Representation premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, audiences were riveted and Oprah Winfrey acquired its broadcast rights. The film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America and challenges the media's limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls.
Writer/Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Lisa Ling, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Margaret Cho, and Gloria Steinem to give us an inside look at the media and its message.
As the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, media is educating yet another generation that a woman’s primary value lay in her youth, beauty and sexuality - and not in her capacity as a leader, making it difficult for women to obtain leadership positions and for girls to reach their full potential.
After the screening there will be a panel discussion led by Krys Boyd, host and managing editor of KERA-FM's flagship midday talk show Think. Our panelists include Paula Blackmon, Sarah Dodd and Nikki Nicastro McCuistion. Read all about our panelists here: Panel Info.pdf
