Help your daughter see movies in a new way...

"I noticed that a high percentage of programs...do not present a world where girls and women make up half of the population..." ~ Geena Davis

When our daughters watch TV and movies, what images of girls and women do they see? Actor Geena Davis didn't like what she was watching with her daughter and sons, so she joined with Dads and Daughters to start See Jane, which advocates for improved portrayals of girls and women in children's media. Learn how to talk with your girl about the powerful influence of female-unfriendly media. To learn more go to http://www.seejane.org/.

Help your daughter see movies in a new way. After you watch a movie together, try these conversation-starters to think more deeply about the effects of everyday media.

1. Count the number of characters - how many are female? How many are male?

2. Of the female characters, what behaviors are most common?

3. Are any female characters leading the action in the story? Or are they supporting the story?

4. What kind of work do the female characters do?

5. What do the female characters look like? Do they look like most of the girls and women you know? What do you think of how they’re dressed?

6. Is there a female character that you would want to be? Of so, what are her strengths? If not, why not? Would you rather do what one of the male characters does?

7. Did the camera treat male and female characters differently? For example, does one group more often have close-ups, or more close-ups of particular body parts?

8. How do the kids in the story relate to their parents? What do you like or dislike about how they relate to their moms? How about to their dads?

9. Who created this story? Was the writer female? How about the director? If you don’t know, what would you guess?

10. What would you do differently if you were behind the camera?

From the article Ten Talking Tips by Erin Trahan - March/April 2006 Daughters newsletter