Feminism is Not a Bad Word

Last evening, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture that was given on campus by award winning actor, Geena Davis. Not only was her talk inspirational, but it was also incredibly eye-opening. She was the keynote speaker for the Women’s Leadership Symposium.

First off, I want to note that Davis has specifically chosen to be called an “actor,” as opposed to an “actress.” I noticed this distinction when she was introduced, and I was actually pondering why “actor” was chosen in her introduction when she started speaking.

As if she'd read my mind, she actually addressed this during her speech. She explained that the definition of “actor” is simply “a person who acts,” so there's no need for an extra bit at the end to connote female since there's nothing about being a male in the definition. 

Picture I took of Geena Davis during her
speech.

Throughout her lecture, she also included a lot of statistics on the disparities in gender equality, both in politics, and in acting. Furthermore, she discussed how there are fewer female roles on television shows and in movies, which sets a poor example for young girls.

However, one of the most interesting statistics that she shared was that girls who watch more television have lower self-esteem, and boys who watch more television have a higher self-esteem. Why is this?

Davis explained that females are not portrayed as particularly strong characters. Girls are shown that they have a very limited scope for what they can do, while boys have a wide range of options open to them.

As a future teacher, I find statistics like this to be rather scary. I was fortunate enough to grow up around many strong women, and have looked up to them as role models. My grandmother, my mother, and my aunts, have all set incredible examples for me and taught me to follow my dreams.

But what about the girls who are not raised in such supportive environments? What about the students who don’t realize that they can, in fact, do anything they put their mind to, as long as they do the work to get there?

I’ve always considered myself a feminist, and an advocate for gender equality, but after listening to Davis’ speech, I realize that we have even further to go than I thought.

Achieving parity is, no doubt, a long and arduous process, but, as Davis shared, the ratio of male to female characters in movies alone has not changed since 1946.

We live in a very different world now in 2014 than we did in 1946, so how come such a statistic has not changed in nearly 70 years? What are we, as a society, doing that still makes gender equality an ideal and not a reality?

Another statistic that I found particularly jarring, is that the U.S. is ranked 90^th in the world in terms of elected female officials.

We have a long way to go before gender equality can be achieved, and a big part of achieving this equality, is by changing unconscious gender perceptions, which is something that we all can do.

If you're interested in watching Davis' lecture, click on the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/45727646