On Wednesday 30 October 2013, around 30 women in the industry gathered at the offices of Mayer Brown JSM to watch a screening of Miss Representation, a film written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The film had already been screened across a number of IWIRC US chapters and came highly recommended to Hong Kong.
Premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence.
The film used some quite shocking images to challenge the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls and explained how this contributed to the difficulties facing women achieving leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
Following the film, the group engaged in a discussion about the issues raised in the film and how they felt these contrasted to the situation in Asia. Generally, the audience felt that the film showed an extreme view, but acknowledged the issues raised by the film and compared this to a number of topical news items, ranging from the publicity surrounding the death of Margaret Thatcher to the controversial music video to Robin Thicke’s 2013 summer anthem, “Blurred Lines”.
With special thanks to Lynchpin Bondholder Management for their generous supply of drinks and canapés and Mayer Brown JSM for the venue.