Rewrite Her Story: How film and media stereotypes affect the lives and leadership ambitions of girls and young women

This report by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University and Plan International, is the second phase of a two-part research project commissioned as an in-depth and ambitious look at female leadership. In many ways the research makes disheartening reading because it tells us clearly that girls and women, as citizens and certainly as leaders, are still not seen as equal to boys and men.

The key research component, and the backbone of this report, is an analysis by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media of the 56 top-grossing films from across 20 countries. The analysis tracked time on screen, the gender of the characters and the portrayal of leadership. These films show a world which is run by men, for men. The filmmakers, too, are predominantly male. Women characters rarely lead a story line. They are sexualised and objectified in a way that men never are. Women are portrayed as leaders in their countries, workplaces and communities in these films, though there are not many of them. But the camera will linger on their bodies, they will be seen partially nude and wearing revealing clothing: these factors undermine their authority. And what they tell young people about the world they inhabit keeps girls and young women subservient and anxious. Female bodies are a commodity and their brains irrelevant. These stereotypes send signals to girls and boys about what they can expect and what is expected from them in their careers and in other parts of their lives.

For many years the representation of girls and women in the media has been the subject of debate: campaigning for change has been going on for decades and still in 2019 we can see clearly that very little has changed. Recently, there have been signs that perhaps, at last, the media industry itself is beginning to take a more critical look at the images on our screens and the stories they tell; not least because women in the entertainment industry are calling out the treatment they receive. But there have been signs before, and sexism and stereotyping in the media has still not been eradicated.

It may, finally, be time for change and this research provides clear evidence of how essential that is for girls and young women, and for society as a whole. To create an equal world, we need the whole picture, not just half the story.