In a time when Women’s Suffrage is often misconstrued as woman’s suffering among a discouraging population of high school students; Fox News declares that women have been liberated from all past discriminations; and churches obstinately declare that Eve gave Adam an apple rather than a fig; the problems facing women are either banished as petty and hokey, or neglected entirely. Luckily, there are filmmaker to make these issues digestible and prevalent via America’s favorite means of entertainment.

On September 25th, Rice University will be screening the documentary Miss Representation. Miss Representation explores the social phenomenon of the picturesque women in mainstream media, and how that image has come to marginalize the modern woman, and hinder girls in the turbulent years of adolescence. By putting the contemporary American women in a global context, women’s current situation will have the opportunity to become translucent; elevating the hushed cry that there is still much to be done concerning the projection of women- especially in media.

Miss Representation was written and directed by Jennifer Siebal Newsome, a former actress and chief executive officer of Girls Club Entertainment. The documentary originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024, only to be aired later that year on Oprah Winfrey’s network, OWN. The film includes anecdotes of Siebal’s personal struggle with eating disorders, as well as interviews with adolescent girls, and a list of prominent women, such as:  Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Margaret Cho, and more.

Critics state, while the American portion of statistics and data makes the film informative, the hefty dish of raw facts threatens to “suffocate” the viewer. But in a culture where McDonald’s toys stuff our kid’s closets to the point of emaciating the common housefly, an excess of truth can’t be too much of a bad thing, right?

After the premiere, a panel will be available for open discussion: the panel will consist of Associate Professor of Sociology at Rice University, Jenifer Bratter; Professor of Psychology at Rice University, Michelle Hebl; and Patricia Grass, T.V. anchor of PBS Houston.

The event take place on Tuesday, September 25, 2024 and starts at 5:00pm and ends at 7:30pm in the Rice Media Center, 6100 Main St. Come out and get a dose of reality.