Dreams can come true.
Just got back from my fourth Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, and it was really great.
Honorees this year were: Jennifer Lopez, Lauren Shuler Donner, Diane Warren, Geena Davis, Maria Bello, and Maryse Alberti. They were all really inspirational.
Most moving to me though, was Geena Davis speaking about gender equity and her organization, See Jane. (I so want this shirt.) She brought up this fact, that women will watch men's stories, but men won't watch women's stories. Her organization posits that we're taught this from a very early age, that women's stories are only of interest to women.
Gender equity has progressed in many ways, but male characters still dominate television, movies, and other media for young children. Since women and girls make up half of the human race, the presence of a wide variety of female characters in our children's earliest media is essential for both girls' and boys' development.
See Jane seeks to engage professionals and parents in a call to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters -- and to reduce gender stereotyping -- in media made for children 11 and under. See Jane founder, Academy Award winner Geena Davis, says, "By making it common for our youngest children to see everywhere a balance of active and complex male and female characters, girls and boys will grow up to empathize with and care more about each others' stories."
In collaboration with Ms. Davis and an Advisory Board of media professionals and educators, the project is administered by the respected national non-profit Dads and Daughters, whose advocacy has changed public policy and corporate marketing. Research, education, activism and collaboration are the project's hallmarks as we work hand-in-hand with professionals to improve our children's earliest media exposure from the inside out.
It suddenly seemed the single saddest thing that I had ever heard. That we're doing this. We're all, men and women, really doing this to ourselves. One of the reasons Teen Titans (my favorite cartoon!) was said to be popular was that it appealed to both genders. All the characters were so great. Why can't we do that more of the time? (All of the time???) Why do we continue to dismiss films with female leads and "female" themes as "chick flicks"? Only of interest to women. Why?
I play flag football in the fall on a co-ed team. One thing that's really difficult for me to deal with is the fact that I can't catch the ball. Some might say that women aren't made for football. That I was born less able to play.
I make gingerbread. And a million other cookies. And bread. I'm really good at baking. Some might say that these are things I was made to be good at.
But one day, I watched a line of small boys at football practice. One by one they ran up to their coach, didn't catch the ball, and ran to the back of the line to try again. Men catch footballs because someone threw one at them again and again and again.
I'm good with a rolling pin because I rolled and cut and rolled and cut and rolled and cut until it became like second nature. Children do what they are encouraged to do. Learn what they are encouraged and supported in learning.
If gender has so little to do with catching a football and rolling dough, what else in our world seems "natural" when it's really, truly learned behavior? Learned truth.
And if that's true, what kind of world can we live in when we break those patterns? Who will we be free to be?
Men, bad movies are bad movies. And unfortunately, movies with female leads are frequently made with less regard and lower funding. (They're for that secondary audience, remember?) That said, there are a lot of great films with awesome female leads and wonderful stories.
So. Men. (And women!) I challenge you to rent a movie this month where the main characters are women. You may like it, or you may not. But if you don't, I challenge you to think about why you don't like it outside of the fact that it's a film with women in it. That it deals with "female" themes. I would love if people came back and shared in the comments, too. Good and bad. Honest and polite is all I ask.
Personally, one of my favorite role models is a fictional male character. His name is Jack Aubrey. If I'd lived when his character did, as a woman I could never have been Jack. And certainly there are aspects of his personality I don't identify with. But I read Patrick O'Brian's books, and I feel Jack Aubrey in my heart, in my soul, in my bones. His gender doesn't matter to me because I recognize myself and the leader I want to be in him.
Men, there's a whole world of incredible, exciting role models out there who are women. We have great stories. They are your stories, too, just like Jack Aubrey's stories are my stories, too.
Here are some suggestions to get you started. It's late, and I'm tired, so if anyone wants to make more suggestions in the comments please have at it:
Frida (How does Julie Taymor not get best director nods for this film???)
I love movies. I'm very thankful that no one ever told me I was only supposed to only like half of them. (Particularly since it's actually nowhere near half!)
tags: See Jane, chick flicks, feminism
