When Geena Davis? daughter was a toddler, the Academy Award-winning actress noticed something unsettling about the content of children?s programming that her little girl was watching.
?There were very few female characters in these series and films for kids,? Davis says. ?Whenever I?d bring up this point to producers or studio executives, every single one of them would say, ?No, that?s been fixed and we helped fix it.? And then they would name a movie with one single female character in it ? one. A vast majority of the people making (these shows) are unaware that there are so few female characters made for kids.?
Davis has since made it her mission to substantially increase the presence of female characters on and off screen through her Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media at Mount St. Mary?s U. in Los Angeles. The research-based organization works within the biz to educate and debunk stereotypes about girls and encourage producers and filmmakers to create children?s entertainment that features a diverse slate of strong female characters.
