
Geena Davis
Oscar-winning actor | feminist activist
At 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.
playing strong + unforgettable characters | journalist Ronnie {alongside Jeff Goldblum, her 2nd husband} in The Fly, the feisty Dottie Hinson in A League of Their Own and the 1st woman President of the United States Mackenzie Allen in the television drama Commander in Chief
media research + advocacy | partner with ITVS on Women and Girls Lead + with UN Women and a Special Envoy for Women and Girls in Technology | delegate for the California Commission on the Status of Women
see jane | partnered with UN Women + the Rockefeller Foundation to conduct ground-breaking study on gender in global popular film
archery + women's sports activism | took up archery in 1997, achieved semi-finalist standing for the 2000 US Women's Olympic Archery team and collaborated with the Women's Sports Foundation on a "Geena Takes Aim" project to educate girls about Title IX
1989 | won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Accidental Tourist
1991 | co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the milestone film Thelma and Louise, which earned her a second Academy Award nomination and sparked a national conversation about gender roles + the representation of women in film
2007 | founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which brings together researchers + entertainment industry leaders to report on and reshape the dramatic gender imbalances and stereotyping in children's media
from | to
aspiring actress, lingerie model, waitress + live window mannequin | award-winning actress + feminist media advocate
born on
January 21, 1956
born in
Wareham, Massachusetts
birth name
Virginia Elizabeth Davis
nickname
Geena
citizen of
The United States of America
daughter of
William Davis + Lucille Davis {née Cook}
~ a civil engineer | church deacon + teacher's assistant, respectively ~
sister of
Danforth Davis
grew up in
Wareham, Massachusetts
educated at
Boston University
~ Boston | BFA | 1979 ~
loved studying
drama + acting
married to
Dr. Reza Jarrahy
~ plastic surgeon + tissue engineering researcher | married 2001 - today ~
divorced from
Richard Emmolo
~ married 1982 - 1983 ~
Jeff Goldblum
~ married 1987 - 1990 ~
Renny Harlin
~ married 1993 - 1998 ~
mother of
Alizeh Keshvar + twins Kian William and Kaiis Steven
advocate for
girls in sports
more balanced + diverse gender representations in media
in her spare time
baking elaborate birthday cakes, carving pumpkins, building sandcastles with her kids
practicing archery
playing the flute, piano and drums
tweets
@GDIGM
image credit
courtesy of Nancy Parsons | MAKERS
collapse bio bits"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
"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
for further reading about Geena Davis:
curated with care by Kristen Fallica {december 2014}
Still from Tootsie
After winning her first major role from her first audition, Geena made her film debut alongside a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman in the 1982 comedy Tootsie.
Columbia Pictures | IMDB
Geena Takes Aim
Geena ~ a competitive archer ~ partnered with the Women's Sports Foundation in 2002 to help educate women about their rights under Title IX.
Women's Sports Foundation
Please Help Jane
A 2008 study from the Institute Geena founded in 2007 analyzed the prevalence of female characters in G-rated films from 1990 ~ 2005, finding that fewer than 1 in 3 speaking characters were female and fewer than 1 in 5 {17%} of characters in crowd scenes were female. Geena suggests that if media creators simply add more women with diverse occupations to their stories, young girls will easily be able to see greater aspirations on screen!
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Gender Bias Without Borders Report
Geena's Institute on Gender in Media conducted a groundbreaking study of gender in popular films from 11 countries, and found that only 30.9% of speaking characters are female ~ the report urges filmmakers to create fictional worlds with more aspirational roles for women & girls.
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Geena Davis Gets Medical in 'Grey's Anatomy'
The fav hospital drama nabbed Geena to play the hard-nosed Dr. Nicole Herman in its 11th season. Geena's doing her part to help girls see themselves as leaders in health & medicine!
ABC News