On Monday, September 19, 2011, Translator Digital Cafe hosted a FREE local screening of Miss Representation at the UWM Union Theater in Milwaukee.

Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

The film included an amazing line up:

  • • Katie Couric, Anchor, CBS Evening News
    • Barbara J. Berg, PhD, Historian, Author, Sexism in America
    • Caroline Heldman, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Occidental College
    • Jim Steyer, CEO, Common Sense Media, Lawyer & Professor of Civil Rights, Stanford University
    • Gloria Steinem, Feminist Organizer & Writer, Co-Founder Women’s Media Center
    • Daphne Zuniga, Activist & Actor, Melrose Place, One Tree Hill
    • Jennifer Pozner, Executive Director, Women in Media & News, Author, Reality Bites Back
    • Margaret Cho, Comedienne, Actor & Activist
    • Condoleezza Rice, PhD, Former U.S. Secretary of State, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institute, Professor of Political Economy Stanford University
    • Sen. Olympia Snowe, Rep. Maine
    • Jane Fonda, Academy Award-winning Actor & Activist
    • M. Gigi Durham, PhD, Author, the Lolita Effect, Associate Professor of Journalism, U of Iowa
    • Martha Lauzen, PhD, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in TV and Film, San Diego State University
    • Carol Jenkins, Founding President, Women’s Media Center
    • Rachel Maddow, Host MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show
    • Dianne Feinstein, US Senator, California
    • Erika Falk, PhD, Author, Women for President, Professor of Communication, Johns Hopkins University
    • Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor, California, Former Mayor of San Francisco
    • Jackson Katz, PhD, Educator, Filmmaker, Tough Guise, Author, The Macho Paradox
    • Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning Actor, Founder See Jane
    • Catherine Hardwicke, Director, Thirteen, Twilight
    • Jehmu Greene, Political Commentator, Former Pres. Women’s Media Center
    • Lindy DeKoven, Chair, California Commission, Status of Women, Former Exec. VP, NBC Entertainment
    • Marissa Mayer, VP, Consumer Products, Google
    • Malkia Amala Cyril, Executive Director, Center for Media Justice
    • Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
    • Jan Yanehiro, Broadcast Journalist, Director of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University
    • Jessica Shambora, Writer, Fortune Magazine
    • Dee Dee Myers, Former White House Press Secretary, Author, Why Women Should Rule the World
    • Candy Crowley, Political Correspondent & Anchor CNN
    • Susan Molinari, Political Commentator & Lobbyist, Former US Rep. NewYork
    • Dana Perino, Political Commentator, Former White House Press Secretary
    • Lisa Ling, Executive Producer & Host, OWN’s Our America
    • Nancy Pelosi, US Representative, California, Former Speaker of the House
    • Rosario Dawson, Activist & Actor, Rent, Seven Pounds
    • Maria Wilson, Founding President, The White House Project

Additionally, they quoted the likes of Pat Robertson in his not so “Female Friendly” statement:
“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourage women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

and

Phyllis Schlafly, “Women’s lib is a total assault on the role of the American woman as a wife and mother and on the family as the basic unit of society.”

WOW


After the screening of the film, a panel discussion took place regarding ideas presented in the film. The panel included:
Carol Voss, Director of Marketing, Independence First
Anne Nimke, Entrepreneur and Founder, thegoodjobs.com
Lilly Goren, Political Science Professor, Carroll University
Dominique Kyle, Student, Alverno
Angel Oakley, Entrepreneur and Founder, Unicatis

This was an excellent event. Many thanks go to Cynthia Thomas for asking me to be a part of it.
I am interested in partnering with local non-profits and schools to bring Miss Representation to the Chicago area. If you are interested in either attending or coordinating such an event, please contact me.