日本語とジェンダー【第 13 回年次大会第13号（2013)

対談：メディアを通して見るジェンダーバイアス

発題要旨】

Gender Bias in Media－Hope We Can Do Something About It
Reynolds Akiba Katsue
ホノルル・メディア・タスク・フォースは、何をしてきたか？
（スポーツカード等）
ジーナ・デイヴィスという女優

As an example of what we can do.

映画『テルマとルイーズ』（1991 年公開）の終幕は何を意味するのか
TV シリーズ「マダム・プレジデント」(2005 年放映開始)———Hillary Clinton,
Nancy Pelosi
Interactive media の可能性—雑誌 Ms. の今 (Blog, face book, twitter).
In the 80’s and the 90’s, the Honolulu Media Task Force was the most active; all the members
gathering in a 6th floor room of the State building to discuss various cases of gender bias: many newspaper
articles containing words and phrases of discrimination were brought to the table; the TV anchors’ casualcomments putting down women were reported, magazines and public documents with pictures suggesting
discriminatory images of women were recorded; the progress of the project of rewriting “Roberts’ Rules”
was reported; The plan of making posters and booklets for gender fair expressions available to all state
workers was proposed; …….
When I came back from Japan after finishing my work at Konan Daigaku, Kobe, I listened to theboard of education meeting broadcast on TV. To my happy surprise, no one used “chairman.” Everyone said“chair” or “chairperson.”

We have done it! Yes, as Anita Tailor said in her farewell Editorial of Women andLanguage, “much has changed” while much has to be changed. The efforts towards a gender fair Media isin progress, being taken over by many individuals who intend to continue the history of women in the 80’sand 90’s.
In order to see the on-going changes, I take one person as an example. Geena Davis an actress-activist.
We tend to think that movies and TV programs contaminate people’s minds by releasing gender bias
messages, but Geena Davis teaches us to use them to change gender bias. Does anyone remember “Thelmaand Louise” 映画『テルマとルイーズ』（1991 年公開),

a movie released in 1991? It showed thefrustration of ordinary women in a discriminatory society, America. Thelma and Louise, who were chasedby the police to the end of a highway, stepped on the gas and flew in the air over the edge of a cliff. What
happened to them? What is the message of the ending?
What about TV drama series “Commander in Chief” (TV シリーズ「マダム・プレジデント」(2005年放映開始)?

It was a fictional administration and family of Mackenzie Allen (portrayed by Geena Davis),

the first female President of the United States. The series began broadcasting on ABC on Tuesday, September
27, 2005, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. The show was #1 on Tuesday night ratings.
Why were Americans so enthusiastic about this program? It is because the appearance of a femalepresident is no longer far off dream. For example, Hillary Clinton, who could have become the first woman
president, was appointed Secretary of State, one of the highest positions in the president’s cabinet, and she
is now talked about as a possible “Madam Commander in Chief” after Obama’s term is over in 2016.

Also,Nancy Pelosi was the first speaker of the House of Representatives (60th speaker) in US political history. She21

Copyright © 2013 The Society for Gender Studies in Japanese All rights reserved.

日本語とジェンダー第13号（2013)

has not changed her feminine style: She is always smiling like a mother or

grandmother and does important

things in a congenial way. Media is showing images of women, which were unthinkable 20 years ago.
Geena Davis is also the co-founder of the Woodhull Institute, a non-profit organization that provides
professional development and leadership training for women. Similar things, making women visible insocially effective positions and supporting younger women becoming assertive and independent as fullfledged human beings, are happening in many other places.
Women are becoming increasingly visible in the fields that used to be for MALES ONLY. Margot
Magowan has investigated, “Who writes more articles with their signatures in the papers and magazines,
men or women?

The result was reported in the Ms. Blog: The New York Review of Books—462 males to79 females, The New RRepublic—256 males to 49 females, The New Yorker ‘book review’ section—36
males to 9 females, etc. The finding can be looked at negatively or positively. The print media no longer
excludes women. Changing the media is not easy, but it is not impossible.
Reference
れいのるず＝秋葉かつえ 1995．「アメリカにおける言語変革の実践——メディア・タスク・フォースの場合」『ず・ぼん』2 号. (Available at <Reynolds UH ScholarSpace> )Margot Magowan. 2011. Why There’s Gender Bias in Media–and What We Can Do About It. Ms. Blog, Feb
10.
（ReynoldsAkiba Katsue レイノルズ秋葉かつえ

ハワイ大学教授）

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22Copyright © 2013 The Society for Gender Studies in Japanese All rights reserved.