The HUMANITAS Master Writer's Workshop

Anchored by a special presentation from See Jane—a research organization founded by award-winning actress Geena Davis, dedicated to improving gender equity in television and film, the HUMANITAS Master Writer’s Workshop “Busting the Myth: What ‘Tweeners are Watching and Why” drew a mix of academics, writers and producers with such hits as Ugly Betty, top-rated Disney Channel film Jump In! and more.

Held March 21 at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Conference Centre, Daily Variety's Cynthia Littleton moderated the discussion.



Focusing primarily on gender images in media targeted toward younger demos, the panel and members of the audience shared personal and work experiences dealing with female characters.



Plus, the group mulled over some disquieting statistics, that underscore the need to increase and further diversify female characters in media, according to panelist Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and head researcher for See Jane.

Key findings of content analysis study "

Where the Girls Aren’t," for instance, show that within 101 top-grossing G-rated movies released from 1990-2004:

• There are three male characters for every one female character.
  
  
  
  
• Fewer than one out of three (28 percent) of the speaking characters (both real and animated) are female.
  

  
  
  

• Fewer than one in five (17 percent) of the characters in crowd scenes are female.
  
  
  
  
• More than four out of five (83 percent) of the films’ narrators are male.

Smith, who led the study resulting in "Where the Girls Aren’t," similarly analyzed television produced for children 11 and under in 2005. You may download the resulting brief, "Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't: Gender & Racial Disparity in TV for Children (PDF)" among others, from the research section of the See Jane website.

See Jane founder and actress Geena Davis put the numbers in perspective, sharing an amusing story about a revelation-of-sorts experienced by an animator during a recent meeting.



"He looked at me and said, 'You know, I drew a bar scene today,'" Davis explained, "and now that I think about it? Every character I drew within that scene is a male. Wow—I'm part of the problem! I didn't even realize.'"

Editor: Juliana J. Bolden    Photos: Mathew Imaging