Geena Davis
Oscar-winning actor | feminist activist
Geena Davis
Oscar-winning actor | feminist activist
timeline
born 1956At age 3, Geena Davis announced she wanted to be an actress. Her early efforts to become one involved wearing sunglasses while watching TV + acting out scenes from the show Rifle Men. It didn’t strike her as odd then that there weren’t any female characters she wanted to imitate, but now, combating the media industry’s sexist stereotypes is a key part of her career...alongside many memorable + award-winning on-screen performances.
Convinced you can't be what you can't see, Geena founded a nonprofit institute dedicated to transforming the representation + real lives of women & girls. The multi-talented actor-advocate is also a member of Mensa, speaks Swedish and is known for taking personal interests to the extreme, from archery to egg painting.
explore
her quotes
all quotes by Geena Davis (16)
"Well, I've had it up to my ass with sedate!"
spoken as Thelma in Thelma and Louise | 1991
"When I do cook, I'm making pastry swans."
Geena Davis Gets Her Own Show | october 2000
"We were sold on the idea that it's negative and unattractive to want women's rights. We were also told we were done."
Oprah Talks to Geena Davis | january 2006
"The characters I’d been most attracted to were complicated and multidimensional and interesting women who were in charge of their own destiny."
The Paley Center for Media | april 2010
"Add women, encourage women, include women, vote for women, hire women."
Canadian Women’s Foundation | october 2012
"There is a great quote from women. It says, 'We’re half the population. Duh!'"
Third Symposium on Gender in Media | november 2012
"The media itself can be the cure for the problem it created."
Google Talks | march 2013
"Here's what I always say: If they can see it, they can be it."
Geena Davis' Two Easy Steps to Make Hollywood Less Sexist | december 2013
"I take everything too far. (You should see my kids' birthday cakes.)"
Geena Davis' Two Easy Steps to Make Hollywood Less Sexist | december 2013
"We are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space."
Geena Davis' Two Easy Steps to Make Hollywood Less Sexist | december 2013
"[T]here's one category where the underrepresentation of women can be fixed tomorrow: onscreen."
Geena Davis' Two Easy Steps to Make Hollywood Less Sexist | december 2013
"In the time it takes to make a movie, we can change what the future looks like."
Gender Bias Without Borders | september 2014
"I want to think about, what are the women in the audience going to think about the character I played?"
Geena Davis Talks to Stephanie Sy | october 2014
"If we added female characters at the rate we have been over past 20 years, we will achieve parity in 700 years."
Women and the Media, Advancing Critical Area of Concern J of the Beijing Platform for Action | march 2015
"Six year old girls have already learned to see themselves through the male gaze."
Gender Equality in The Modern Media | march 2015
"Don’t create a problem that you need to fix later on."
Gender Equality in The Modern Media | march 2015
for further reading about Geena Davis:
