Geena Davis
is well-known as an Academy Award-winning actor, starring in cult classics “Beetlejuice,” “Thelma and Louise,” and “A League of Their Own.”
But she is much more than that.
Davis works to bring gender equality to entertainment. In 2004, Davis founded The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. According to research, women and people of color are often underrepresented in media and shown in stereotypical ways. These portrayals limit the aspirations of young viewers.
Now audiences can hear from Davis live and in person Thursday, Nov. 10, as she talks about her life and career for a lecture presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
Davis will also talk about and sign copies of her new book, the hilarious and candid memoir, “Dying of Politeness,” which was just released Oct. 11 from HarperOne Books. It is the tale of her “journey to badassery,” she says, culminating in helping to lead the way to gender parity in Hollywood.
The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in the Alys Stephens Center. Tickets are $50, $60 and $70. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org. This event is sponsored in part by GirlSpring.
The Alys Stephens Center will also present a free, virtual Lunch & Learn at noon, Wednesday, Nov. 2. Join speaker Madeline Di Nonno, president and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and moderator Paulette Dilworth, Ph.D., vice president of the UAB Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for a discussion on gender equity. Register online.
Davis’ global nonprofit, research-based organization — the leading organization on gender equality — works collaboratively within the industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media. Davis is also an accomplished world-class athlete, a member of the genius society MENSA, a musician, fluent in Swedish and more.
Through the organization, she launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in 2015, and executive produced the documentary “This Changes Everything” in 2018. Thanks to this work, she was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, bestowed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in 2019 and with the 2022 Governors Award, given by the Board of Governors of the Television Academy.
It is important that kids see diverse representations of characters in media to reflect the world — which is half female and very diverse — and avoid unwittingly instilling unconscious bias in them. In 2019 and 2020, the institute achieved two of its primary mission goals, by achieving gender parity for female lead characters in the top 100 largest-grossing family films and the top Nielsen-rated children’s television programming.