2 I The Blue Banner I 3.282012
Photo by Beth Ellen - Staff Photographer
ABC WLOS News 13 anchor Parcel Grimes and Asheville mayor Terry Bellamy share a laugh before the F-Word panel discussion in the Sherrill Center.
Panel discusses female stereotypes, media image
Jackie Starkey
jsiarkey@unca.edu
Asst. News Editor
The negative portrayal of
women in the media is the big
gest barrier to female equality,
said participants in a discussion
panel on feminism at a film
screening on Friday night.
The discussion panel fol
lowed a screening of Miss Rep
resentation, one of the docu
mentaries featured in UNC
Asheville’s annual F-word
(Feminism) Film Festival.
Miss Representation address
es the barriers women have in
American society and the ways
the media underrepresents and
misuses the female image, un
dermining gender equality.
“What scares me is that these
issues haven’t changed in the
last 20 years,’’ said Cindy
Berryman-Finke, retired
professor of gender commu
nications at the University
"What scares me is
that these issues
haven't changed in
the last 20 years. I
taught these same
issues to my stu
dents."
Cindy Berryman-Finke
retired professor,
University of Cincinnati
of Cincinnati. “I taught these
same issues to my students.”
Berryman-Finke, who at
tended the discussion panel,
said the ways in which the me
dia depicts women in both Hol
lywood and Washington, D.C.,
have not improved, at least in
the public eye.
“These depictions (of wom
en) haven’t changed. They’ve
been updated with images that
are even more bothersome and
frightening than before,” Ber
ryman-Finke said.
The film addressed the fe
male stereotypes most often
expressed by the media, includ
ing sexualization of the female
body, political inadequacy, the
“cat-fight” female mentality
and the media destruction of
female politicians.
UNCA students were among
those who participated in the
discussion.
“Why are we tearing apart
women in (political) power?”
said Rachel Collman, an
undeclared freshman who
served as a panel member.
“These are the women making
policies. We should be support
ing the women who are doing
that.”
Collman said the negative
portrayal of American female
politicians is one of the biggest
barriers to achieving gender
equality in our democracy.
“More people need to know
how powerful women are in
Congress,” Collman said.
Spectators at the panel
agreed, calling for women to
unite and mentor one another
in an effort to break social per
ceptions.
Allison Smith, a senior lit
erature student, says she feels
her education at UNCA has
better prepared her to break
some perceptions preventing
female inequality.
“What is important for me
is being media literate,” Smith
said. “To be able to take apart,
understand, know who’s telling
us what and deconstruct these
messages.”
The discussion panel also ad
dressed the ways in which the
film attempted to appeal to the
audience and make feminism a
palatable issue.
“The film was bookended
by objectification images. All
the powerful women were in
the middle,” said Catherine
Frank, director of the North
Carolina Center for Creative
Retirement.
Collman agreed with Frank,
saying that the film eased the
viewer into feminism, due to
the social stigmas surrounding
the topic.
“Feminism doesn’t just mean
women, but equalization of all
people,” Collman said.
Smith agreed, saying the neg
ative perceptions of feminism
keep it from being a forerunner
on the social agenda.
“The fact that this festival is
called the F-word is testament
to those views on feminism,”
Smith said.
Four films screened at this
year’s F-word Festival.
Miss Representation, which
originally aired on the Oprah
Winfrey network, was followed
by two faculty and student lead
see WOMEN on page 5