Geena Davis is changing everything. She goes beyond being an Everyday Heroine onscreen and offscreen.
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has a tagline which states ‘If she can see it, she can be it’. The movie ‘This Changes Everything’ (currently playing on Netflix) brings to light what makes this tagline so important for everyone and what we can do about it.
Geena Davis says, when she was young she read that feminists are ruining the world and thought I don’t want to be one of those if they are ruining the world. All she wanted to do was be a movie star.
Part I - She answers a call to greatness when she gets the part of Thelma in Thelma & Louise. Sometimes you don’t even know you are stepping into your greatness when it happens. You follow your bliss and then you realize it later.
Watching this movie, they slowly unravel what has been happening since Thelma & Louise. The Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media connects the dots for us. We can see the unseen with irrefutable data.
Part II – Initiation, like Geena did when she took the part of Thelma, you must follow your bliss and enter the forest to walk your own path, slay the dragon and create personal transformation.
Part III of the heroine’s journey, the return where you transform others by being yourself. This is what change looks like! Now that we get a glimpse of how it can be done, it’s time to do more work. We have other sectors of the workforce to fill with smart and capable women.
While some industries have seen improvements for women, Hollywood continues to present roadblocks for its female storytellers.
The story of Maria Giese is an Everyday Heroine story within an Everyday Heroine story. She says, 'I wanted to be a director because I wanted to have a voice.'
The documentary takes us on the journey to witness the fight for equality for women in Hollywood. Being a director comes with some challenging obstacles for tackling gender bias.
The failure to enforce Title VII has allowed gender inequality in Hollywood to continue unabated for decades.
Here's what Geena did for Part III – The Return to tell others her story…
Data turns out to be the magic bullet in this case because the bias is unconscious.
In 2012 Geena and the Institute received a Global Impact Award from Google to advance the research.
Hartwig Adam, Google’s machine learning research specialist says, ‘It takes one minute to use this new software to process approximately one film.’
In May of 2015 after an investigation instigated by Maria Giese’s activism the ACLU drafts a 15 page letter to the US government.
ACLU came to the conclusion that it was a really serious civil rights problem that deserved the attention of the EEOC.
What to do to take action?
- Never give up!
- Be the change you wish to see in the world and make choices that support the legacy you want for yourself, your family, your family’s future, and for the world.
- Don’t let the status-quo be the loudest voice to vote.
- Send a clear message that your daughters and sons deserve every chance they can get to see the brightest future possible.
- Be a conscientious consumer.
- And most importantly, be an Everyday Heroine.
Geena Davis ends by saying if I could go back and say something to my teenage self, I would say a feminist is exactly what you want to be because it’s good for everybody.
For more information about Maria Kauffman and The Kauffman Institute click here!