At Boise’s historic and beautiful Egyptian Theatre earlier this month, a crowd of nearly 500 attended a free screening of the documentary film MissRepresentation. The documentary exposes the underrepresentation of women in the media and other perception challenges. Written, directed and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation is a moving experience to say the least.

While the film addresses the issues around the dehumanization of women in graphic images, it goes beyond that to draw attention to much deeper issues around the representation (or lack thereof) of women in the media.

MissRepresentation speaks to a much more profound issue of media focus, where powerful or influential women are often judged more on what they wear or how they look instead of their intellect, words, vision or knowledge of the topic at hand. Unfortunately, this level of judgment by perception rather than substance is perpetuated by both women and men alike (and on both sides of the aisle). The long-term consequences on our youth – both boys and girls – is damaging and tragic.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” is just one of the themes that attracted me to the film. Comments by influential women including Condaleeza Rice, Katie Couric, Nancy Pelosi, Jane Fonda and others were, at times, either angering or depressing or both. Despite some discouraging messages, Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom remains optimistic that we all have the power to shift this direction in a more positive manner, through conscious consumerism, engaging youth early and often about perceiving who someone is beyond the surface and supporting women who seek leadership positions.

This message is a good reminder to us all that change can start with us. I want to thank Go Lead Idaho (www.goleadidaho.org) for bringing the film to Boise and for starting a long-overdue dialogue.

This post was originally published on Red Sky Public Relation’s blog on October 19, 2012 and is reposted here with permission.