by Emily Snell | May 25, 2012 | News Slider
Geena Davis says the media’s role in reshaping the image of women in society is simple: “If they see it, they can be it.” The problem is that the media is not doing its part in representing women and men equally, Davis says, and when women are portrayed in television and film they, often are sexually provocative or stereotyped characters. Davis, who has embarked on a mission to change that and offer more hope and empowerment for young women in popular culture, brought her message to a gathering at Lipscomb’s Andrews Institute. That institute partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Thursday for “A League of Their Own,” an event starring the acclaimed actor and also featuring Deborah Taylor Tate and female local media leaders to discuss the role of women and girls on screen. Davis — who starred in movies like A League of Their Own, Beetlejuice, and Thelma & Louise — founded her institute in 2004 after watching children’s entertainment with her daughter and realizing the lack of female characters present in TV programming and family movies. Davis’ institute, which focuses on research, education and advocacy, conducted the largest body of research on gender prevalence in the media and discovered that only 17 percent of characters in family films are women. Davis noted those few female characters often are portrayed in stereotypical or hyper-sexualized ways. It’s not just popular media. Davis said women are not fairly represented in most areas of society, noting that the U.S. ranks 90th on the list of countries that have female representation in government. “It’s astounding,” she said. “The fact is that women...
by Amanda McDowell | Oct 28, 2010 | News Slider
On Wednesday evening, Oct. 20, Lipscomb students walked away with much more than a chapel credit. After watching “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” in Shamblin Theater, Cyntoia’s powerful life story came to light. The documentary on her life, made over a six-year period, tells of Cyntoia’s past. At 16 years old, Cyntoia Brown, a young woman with a troubled past, was forced to face the reality that the rest of her life would almost certainly be spent behind bars. Now, she is an inmate at the Tennessee Prison for Women and a participant in Lipscomb’s LIFE program. The program, which began in 2007, is dedicated to educating inmates to change their lives for the better. Brown was 16 when she killed Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old Nashvillian who picked her up while she was streetwalking at a Sonic Restaurant. Cyntoia had run away from home and was forced to work as a prostitute for a violent drug dealer. As a result, she encountered Allen on the night of Aug. 6, 2004. After riding with Allen back to his home, Brown began to fear for her safety. Allen had begun talking about guns and his time spent as an army sharp shooter, frightening comments that ultimately led Cyntoia to shoot Allen in the head. Her murder conviction at age 18 led her to the prison cell she now calls home. Cyntoia still claims that she shot Allen in fearful self-defense, after he allegedly reached for a gun. Her fate was then determined, despite family testimony from both her biological and adoptive mothers of a troubled and abusive childhood. Jurors still convicted...
by Julie Shrewsbury | Oct 5, 2010 | News Slider
With the growing demand for separation of church and state, atheists who want to squash the mention of God and new religions challenging Christian doctrine, does God still belong here? Where did our early beliefs come from and will God be allowed to stay in America in the future? Lipscomb University hosted a screening of “God in America,” a new six-hour-documentary series targeted to air on October 11 at 8 p.m. and again at 10 p.m on PBS network. The documentary will examine over 400 years of religious history from the initial discovery of America to present day. The series was developed to heighten the understanding of the progression of religion in the United States. The documentary explores the multifaceted relationship between religion and democracy in the United States, how it is portrayed in the public eye, origins of spiritual liberty, the dynamics of the constantly changing religious marketplace and what role developing denominations have played in an ever-evolving society. Nashville Public Television paired with Lipscomb Human Documentary Film Series showed a one hour sneak preview of this documentary Sunday night. A panel of experts was present after the viewing to further discuss the documentary and answer questions. Rhonda Lowry, senior fellow in Lipscomb’s Institute for Christian Spirituality, first lady to Lipscomb University and mediator of the panel, asked thought-provoking questions. “How would you define religion?” Rhonda asked. “How is the religious marketplace portrayed and incorporated in the documentary? The diverse panelists offered unique responses to these probing questions. Gail Seavey, minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, was on the panel. “One of the great things...
