BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will host a screening of Miss Representation, a documentary that aims to empower women and end sexism in the media at 7p.m. Friday Mar. 23, in the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center Multipurpose Room (C4) on campus. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contributes to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions, and for the average woman to feel powerful. It features interviews with prominent women such as Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, and Katie Couric, and touches on the issues of representation, self-abuse, violence, teen pregnancy, depression, and cosmetic surgery.

Following its premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Miss Representation aired nationally on the Oprah Winfrey Network in October of 2011, and continues to be screened all over the world.

The popularity of the film has been the catalyst for a social action campaign led by MissRepresentation.org, which has ignited a cross-generational movement to shift the cultural mindset of communities, interrupt and stop patterns of sexism, change the way women and girls are underrepresented in the media, and ensure a tipping point that will lead to gender parity in leadership.  The campaign seeks to empower women and girls by providing them with new opportunities to recognize their full potential.

Tickets are free, but must be picked up in advance from Campus Activities in UUW207. For more information, go to MissRepresentation.org, or facebook.com/missrepresentationcampaign.