ColumnThe Representation Test is a new measure of how well a movie depicts women. I really want the stars to be replaced by Gloria Steinem heads.

It seems like every year following the Oscars, we get to talking about depictions of women on TV and in movies.

And, despite Cate Blanchett’s genuinely heartfelt Oscar acceptance speech for a movie directed by one of the more—ummm—controversial “female appreciators” of our time, Woody Allen, it’s been iffy lately.

The Representation Test, a new rating system, could help you figure out how to spend your movie-going dollars on women-friendly films.

Some of you might be thinking, wait, the Bechdel test, right? Yes. But more so.

Back in 1985, Dykes to Watch Out For cartoonist Allison Bechdel asked one simple question to determine if a movie represented women well: Does the movie have at least two women in it who talk to each other about something besides a man?

Think about it. There are shockingly few movies that get a yes—especially back in 1985.

Building on Bechdel’s query (her question is number seven), The Representation Project has created a 20-question test that grades movies on how they’re representing women and dealing with stereotypes.

The Representation Test also looks at issues related to color, age and body type. The test is part of a curriculum which draws on issues showcased in Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s documentary, “Miss Representation.”

According to TakePart.com, The Representation Project posted an open letter to eight major film industry executives (six men and two women) stating: “Women and girls comprise 52 percent of moviegoers and 50 percent of all ticket buyers in the United States … They were represented as just 15 percent of protagonists in the top films of last year and only 30 percent of characters who spoke.”

What is this, Congress?

Slapping a rating on something—even an awesome rating like 87 Glorias—won’t change the world all at once, but it is an important step in pointing out inequalities and keeping the conversation going beyond awards season.

And Over on the Boob Tube…

I was one of the many, many people singing the praises of “True Detective”—and also one of the many people who noted the lack of developed female characters and the lack of reality surrounding the types of ladies who’d wanna get down with Woody Harrelson were he not Woody Harrelson and just some cop from Louisiana.

After “True Detective,” I watched season one of “Rectify”—a six-episode Sundance channel show recently released on Netflix. I started to wonder if, to gain critical acclaim, a show has to center around a sexually assaulted dead young woman and weird religious under(or over)tones.

I have hope for the spring, though.

I am thrilled to see Mindy Kaling back on TV (maybe because I am her in every BuzzFeed quiz I take).

Yes, there were some issues to work out with “The Mindy Project’s” depiction of African American women and race in general, and I hope the show veers away from the racist tone it struck last season. But, overall, Mindy is a character we’re not used to seeing on TV and I love her.

“Orphan Black” returns on April 19 and “Orange Is the New Black” is coming back June 6. There are no words. I cannot wait.

And, Amazon has teamed up with Jill Soloway (“Six Feet Under” and “United States of Tara”) for the series “Transparent,” featuring Jeffrey Tambor as a trans woman named Maura. I tend to like Soloway and Tambor so I’ll be checking this out.

Before the spring TV binge season kicks off, let’s create a rating system for TV shows. It will be a little different to account for the popularity of reality TV.

I’ll start. I suggest the following questions to get it going:

-Are the women on the show actual friends or competitive assholes that just scream at each other? -5 Glorias
-Is the phrase “throw under the bus” uttered? -Change channel immediately
-Is there more than one wife per husband? -4 Glorias
-Is the woman a prize? -54 Glorias
-Is a beautiful, smart woman married to a fat, lazy jerk that we’re supposed to find lovable? -9 Glorias
-Is Connie Britton’s hair in this show? +2 Glorias
-Is there a female boss on this show? +6 Glorias
-Are there women behind the camera? (writing, directing, etc.?) +2 Glorias for each woman

What else should we be asking? And watching?

That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.

Related on EcoSalon:

Girls, Women and HPV

5 Essential Documentary Films for Anyone Who Cares About Women

Orange Is the New Black and I’m Addicted

Image: “Miss Representation”

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When it comes to storytelling, film is a powerful medium. With visuals, we get pulled into the heart of a story; we take part at the same time that we learn. Skilled documentary filmmakers know the art of getting across a complex idea in a tangible way, one that’s not only informative but also touching. They can make us cry, they can make us laugh, most most importantly, hopefully they inspire us to take action.

If you care about women and women’s rights, there are some excellent documentaries out there, not only about women, but also directed and produced by women. That’s a good thing, because while the world of media is male dominated, with top grossing films often directed by and depicting men, the independent documentary world is more balanced, with women more likely to work on independent films and documentaries. In fact, 39 percent of directors working on independently produced documentaries in 2011-2012 were women.

Compare that with the dismal statistics of women and girls around the world: “Sixty-six million are currently out of school; 150 million are sexually assaulted each year; and in the past 30 seconds, about 13 were forced into arranged marriages,” as PureWow recently pointed out. We can’t have enough films about these topics. Films that addresses the state of women around the world are essentials to helping us pave the way forward.

The more films by and about women, the more we support women in general. Here are some excellent ones to start with.

1. Miss Representation

Why do we have certain images of women in the media? Miss Representation takes a look at that question, showing the link between gender inequality in power positions in media, and how that perpetuates stereotyped gender roles in our culture. Produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom – who we interviewed around the time the film cam out – it is a compelling look at the under representation of women from media to politics, and a call to action for those of us who want to make change.

2. Girl Rising

The format of Girl Rising is unique: it’s a film about the stories of nine girls from nine countries written by nine writers and performed by nine actresses. The equivalent of a short story collection, each segment features the real girl acting out an episode of her own life, giving us an intimate view of what girls around the world are up against.

3. To Educate a Girl

In 2000, 110 million children in the world were not in school—two thirds of them were girls. Moved by this statistic, two filmmakers Frederick Rendina and Oren Rudavsky traveled to Nepal and Uganda to find out what it actually takes to educate a girl. To Educate a Girl is a look at the lives of young women who are working hard to achieve their dreams despite living in situations of conflict and poverty.

4. Invisible War

Soldiers in the military are up against a lot, their everyday jobs often being physically and emotionally taxing. But for some it’s even worse than that. In fact, a female U.S. soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. Invisible War is an investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, a difficult topic, but one that’s necessary to talk about.

5. Half the Sky Movement

Not a traditional big screen film, Half the Sky Movement is a four-hour PBS series that was shot in ten different countries to show women and girls living under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, yet fighting to change them. Inspired by the powerful book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, the film isn’t just a film, it’s a call to arms to end the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

Want more? The National Organization for Women has an excellent extensive roundup of films about global women’s rights that are all well worth a watch.

Image courtesy of Miss Representation

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Do little girls need an annual National Princess Week?

April 22, 2012 marked the start of the first annual National Princess Week, as declared by Julie Andrews, Target, and, of course, Disney. Target and Disney have teamed up to push their princess-related marketing items even harder this week and Mary Poppins is blessing it with her sweet smile and graceful benevolence. Andrews even lists 30 ways to celebrate princess week, including learning to wave properly, curtsy and exit a vehicle with grace.

What Could Anyone Have Against Pink?

In 2000, Disney stumbled onto the idea of marketing its princesses with all manner of gear (dresses, tiaras, makeup, etc.) and after a decade, the total has reached over 26,000 items and is a $4 billion a year business. But all that pink frothiness has sparked a princess war amongst parents.

Many parents see the Disney stories as harmless fairy tales that ultimately see good triumph over evil, celebrate romance and spotlight the moral goodness in the heroine. Others point out the beauty stereotype, where the heroine is impossibly beautiful and thin and many times battles an older woman who is wrinkled and mean (age = horror). Rapunzel’s mother/kidnapper was so jealous and obsessed with beauty that she held Rapunzel prisoner all her life, Snow White’s stepmother wanted her killed just because she was prettier, Ursula the sea witch (a demented, overweight character) wanted power over the ocean, Cinderella’s stepmother wanted her daughters to be admired rather than Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty was cursed by a snubbed fairy.

Parents who defend princess mania argue that it’s all make-believe, and the caricature of flawless women is part of it, as is the huge dividing line between the sexes, where the man usually plays rescuer. Can adults see past the imagery and pick out the positive message? Usually. Can young children? Some experts say no.

Peggy Orenstein is a nationally acclaimed writer about women and girls’ issues. When her previously un-media-tainted daughter went off to preschool in striped overalls carrying a Thomas the Tank Engine lunch box and transformed into a pink-obsessed princess inside of a month, she was stunned. Orenstein began seeing princess references everywhere – from the woman who gave her daughter a pink balloon (without asking if she wanted another color), to the dentist who told her to hop up into the “princess chair” so she could “sparkle her teeth.”

It’s Not About the Moral of the Story, But Who Looks the Prettiest

Orenstein’s investigation into princess mania was the basis for her book Cinderella Ate My Daughter. She visited Disney, Pottery Barn Kids and American Girl, and delved into the world of child beauty pageants and the international toy fair, and soon saw the peril behind the pink. She told The Daily Beast’s Jessica Bennett:

“’It’s not that princesses can’t expand girls’ imaginations,’ Orenstein explains. ‘But in today’s culture, princess starts to turn into something else. It’s not just being the fairest of them all, it’s being the hottest of them all, the most Paris Hilton of them all, the most Kim Kardashian of them all.’ Translation: shallow, narcissistic, slutty.”

Orenstein and others argue that the calculation-of-worth-based-on-appearance beast lurks underneath all those frills and the pop music track for preschoolers, and Disney starts the ball rolling way too early for young girls (and boys) to get the right message. Orenstein told NPR that an expert she consulted for her book told her that little brains are very malleable at those young ages, and soon, little gender differences become big gaps as they grow older.

Author Barbara Ehrenreich and educational consultant Lori Day have also excoriated princess marketing culture as the gateway to appearance becoming the dominant worry for girls at too young of an age, leading to depression and the skyrocketing rate of eating disorders in the U.S.

Miss Representation’s Jennifer Siebel Newsom points to early princess indoctrination as the start of media’s message to girls to value looks above substance and leads to media dismissal of women as people of worth. “Disney is now selling to kids as early as newborns.” Newsom adds, “your pink little onesie… reinforces gender.”

Most girls will outgrow the princess phase, but the worry is that after the princess dresses and tiaras, come more marketing products that send the same superficial message with more emphasis on body image and sexiness too early. Is Disney entirely to blame? Should parents ban Ariel from their homes? No, but Orenstein believes that awareness of the dangers will help parents strike a balance between tea parties and tee ball, between looking healthy and building confidence in abilities, not appearance. Day agrees, saying, “To all of the parents reading this who say, ‘My daughter loves to wear her Jasmine costume while she’s running around playing sports and collecting bugs,’ bravo! Moderation and balance are awesome.”

In her book, Orenstein writes,

“As with all of us, what I want for my daughter seems so simple: for her to grow up healthy, happy, and confident, with a clear sense of her own potential and the opportunity to fulfill it. Yet she lives in a world that tells her, whether she is three or thirty-three, that the surest way to get there is to look, well, like Cinderella.”

Image: Andrea Newell

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Film as a vehicle to get conscious messages to the masses? Ticket please.

We were so excited this week to get an EcoSalon exclusive with photographer Ben Canales on his “Finding Oregon” time lapse. In Finding Oregon: An Exclusive Look at A Stunning Nature Timelapse, we get respite from our everyday, overloaded, technology-dependent lives and a reminder of the natural rhythms to which we have almost become unaccustomed.

Truck Farm is a great film that hits on the themes that we so often discuss when it comes to food: thinking about where our food comes from, the importance of reconnecting to what we eat, building community and being part of an underground movement that feels empowered to make change. A garden growing in the back of a truck? Yup. it turned lots of heads.

Miss Representation is a documentary that explores the misrepresentation of women in culture and media and how that influences the under representation of women in other realms, like politics and business. We caught up with the film’s writer and producer, Jennifer Siebel Newsom to see what drove her to put this film together (and we were more than inspired).

We’ve covered Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff a few times but loved getting an interview with her recently. Why did Leonard feel the passion to do do what she does? The Staten Island dump, Pacific Northwestern clear cuts and planned obsolescence are three but in The Story of Stuff: A Conversation with Annie Leonard, we learn a few reasons more.

Want to see a good way to make a point? Maybe you should take heed and handle an uncomfortable situation like Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. Because really, when is kicking ass then back-flipping out of a situation not the best way to make an exit? Our weekly series of Women in Film takes a theatrical look at just how you do channel your alpha female (cat).

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A new feminism is raging in America and the modern woman is embracing it.

Marketing Manager Anna Brones and I were busy doing what we do at EcoSalon when I pinged her:

“Are we becoming in your face feminists?”

Anna shot me back: “What are we supposed to do? Not be feminists?”

It got me thinking, why does feminism have a bad name?

After a while Anna sent another message: “As women, we have to rally together because we have no choice and it’s not because we hate men. I also think it’s bullshit that as soon as we start talking about women and rallying together we quickly get attacked.”

Her comments stayed with me on Tuesday when a female neighbor talked feverishly about a female DPW worker who needed to “stop wearing her cutesie heels and skirt and be a man,” so she could get things done.

Her comments stayed with me on Thursday when a friend said “I don’t want to wear lipstick to the supermarket to call attention to myself.”

I could go on. I bet you could too. Here are five more stories that should clearly show you, in 2011, women are still not out of the woods as equal members of society.

Fact. In the U.S., women still hold only 14.4 percent of executive officer seats and 15.7 percent of board seats in Fortune 500 companies. Why is that? You could blame it on life, women having babies and leaving the work force but you also could blame it on “Good Girl” syndrome. In her story Women Learn How to Fail at Work in Grade School, Andrea Newell, Senior Editor at EcoSalon says “After spending their formative years of learning the ‘nice’ girl code of behavior, women discover that the workplace demands different behavior and has a new set of rules.”

Sometimes you have to scratch your head and wonder what century we’re living in. Could it be possible that in 2011, women are still fighting for the right to choose? In her article Barely Legal, writer Libby Lowe talks about H.R.3, a bill known for finally defining rape as “forcible.” Lowe says the bill is now aimed at punishing women and private insurers who provide coverage for rape victim abortion. “And, as if your taxes aren’t complicated enough, if H.R.3 passes, the IRS will be looking to get in your pants. ‘Under standard audit procedure, a woman would have to provide evidence to corroborate facts about abortions, rapes, and cases of incest.'” Hello Big Brother.

In The Top 15 Feminist All Stars, we get a Hollywood breakdown of strong actresses who have played kick ass women in supporting and lead roles.

Miss Representation is a documentary that explores the misrepresentation of women in culture and media and how that influences the under representation of women in other realms, like politics and business. In an interview with the film’s writer and producer, Jennifer Siebel Newsom says “It’s sort of a chicken and the egg, both the media and our culture don’t value women enough,” she says. That leads to an image that, as Siebel Newsom puts it, is “disparaging and hyper-sexualized and ultimately relays to the culture that that’s what women are.” Miss Representation aired just this past week on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

So, today, at this very moment, if you were to go out in Tucson, Arizona, you couldn’t wear a pair of pants. Nope. Not kidding. A real law in the city. Who knows what happens to women who defy it, but in 7 Ridiculous Laws Against Women, we get a pretty traumatizing look at backwards places still holding true to women being the lesser sex.

And for these injustices we have to laugh and cry at the same time.

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