#SeeHer
Written By: Margaux Fortier
“We believe that if you can see her, you can be her” - SeeHer.com
At the 2019 Critics Choice Awards, Claire Foy became the third recipient of the #SeeHer Award. Presented by fellow recipient, Viola Davis, the SeeHer Award recognizes achievements of depicting authentic women in film, television, advertisements, and other media. Claire Foy’s standout performances as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, and most recently, Janet Armstrong in First Man, portrayed real women who are ambitious, intelligent, unapologetic, and vulnerable. These roles, along with many others in her career, have shown a dedication to truth and an exploration of self.
Starting with Viola Davis’ win in 2016, the #SeeHer Award has become a recurring acknowledgement at the Critics Choice Awards. Gal Gadot, was honored in 2018 after her performance in Wonder Woman and Claire Foy has emerged in the last few years as an influential woman in the industry.
Official Profile Picture, #SeeHer Facebook Page
The #SeeHer movement is spearheaded by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the largest marketing and advertising association in the United States. #SeeHer began as a study of gender diversity in the media we take in on a daily basis. The results were staggering with the lack of gender diversity across all media. The networks and companies that were the greatest offenders were published as part of the results and #SeeHer was born.
The goal of #SeeHer is to increase the percentage of accurate portrayals of women and girls in U.S. advertising and media by 20% by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. Since the inception of #SeeHer in 2016, the percentage of ads with positive portrayals of women in the U.S. has jumped from 51% of ads to 61% and it keeps rising.
Not only is #SeeHer important for media and advertising as a whole, it can also help to motivate young women to push themselves towards their passions. With commercials that are beginning to air on television to special segments on morning talk shows to a website full of resources, information, and education, #SeeHer is pushing the boundaries of what can happen for our future as we continue to grow and learn.
#SeeHer Women’s History Month 2019, Facebook
The movement is headed by some hard working and influential women in media who have been vocal about women’s rights and positive change. The #SeeHer Founders are Gail Tifford (Chief Brand Officer, WW) and Shelley Zalis (CEO, The Female Quotient TFQ). The #SeeHer Advisory Board is made up of Lisa Borders (President & CEO, Time’s Up), Geena Davis (Founder & Chair, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media), Katie Couric (Journalist), Laura Brown (Editor-In-Chief, Instyle Magazine), and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh (Head of Worldwide Literary, Speakers, and Conference Divisions, WME).
#SeeHer is important to the world of women in media today and the world of women in media for years to come. It is the foundation for new thought and expanded experience and can create the domino effect needed to see tangible change.
The #SeeHer website includes lists of companies that support the movement, a timeline of the progress that the movement has made, blog posts, news, video content, Spotlight interviews, and much more.
If you are looking to further your knowledge, you can visit https://seeher.com/
