A couple of weeks ago I was riding back from the airport and found a piece of newspaper in the supershuttle I happened to be riding in. I just saw "Women in the Economy" on the top of the page and picked it up, planning on reading it later. Now having watched "Who's Counting?" this featured section seems more pertinent.
The Wall Street Journal has created a task force for to figure out what barriers are still in place for women to enter the workplace. The piece of the section that I got my hands on had Gena Davis, actress, discussing the hours of television watched by children and the stereotypes and placements of male and female characters in shows. She started with films such as "Thelma and Louise" and "A League of Their Own," and soon she had women coming up to her to tell their stories and how they related to these movies.
After doing these films, she began to realize the disparity in gender roles in the mainstream media. While watching TV with her daughter, she noticed the gender bias and gender gaps that media is presenting to children. She began approaching producers and directors about it, who didn't even realize what they were doing. She, along with others in Hollywood, ended up raising the money to do the largest research study on G-rated movies and television shows for kids 11 and younger. They found that for every one female character, there are THREE male characters (in group scenes, it was five males to one female).
She has started a movement in Hollywood to change these perceptions and make changes in the gender roles in film. They will be doing another study in 2015 to show the differences and changes in five years.
I found this article encouraging that people are stepping up and making the difference that it will take to truly turn a 180 on the perception of women, and therefore the success of women. Below is a link to the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576247133240163732.html
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