There’s a local screening of Miss Representation on Dec. 6 at the Carib Theatre. Tickets are $9 per person with the full ticket price being donated to the Quesnel Women’s Resource Centre by the Carib Theatre.
Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayal of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
Miss Representation includes stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics such as Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Jackson Katz, Jean Kilbourne and Gloria Steinem. The film offers startling facts and statistics that will leave audiences shaken and armed with a new perspective.
“We are thrilled to have so many outreach opportunities for Miss Representation,” Newsom said.
“This film was made to be a change agent in our culture, to inspire both women and men to recognize women’s collective voice, leadership capacity and equal rights.
“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; not in her capacity as a leader.”
While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the U.S. is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures, women hold only three per cent of clout positions in mainstream media and 65 per cent of women and girls have an eating disorder.
Miss Representation was selected from the Sundance line-up to be part of the Oprah Winfrey Network Documentary Film Club.
“Through personal stories and provocative interviews, Jennifer crystallizes the relevance of the media and its portrayal of women in today’s society,” Lisa Erspamer, Chief Creative Officer for OWN said.
In Quesnel, Miss Representation is sponsored by Evelyn Towgood (Regency Chrysler), Brenda Beatty (Rocky Peak), Jorleen Russell (Good 4 You and Planet 2), Tracey Goodwin and Mary White (Essentials Boutique), Sarah Shipley (Bo Peep Boutique), Amy Quarry (AdBoom Studio) and the Carib Theatre.
