Published Sarasota Herald Tribune, February 27, 2025. Guest Column.
“Through Women’s Eyes Film Festival Remains Committed to Celebrating Diversity”
American Diversity
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are disappearing all over America. They are being shed like snake skins, slipping slowly since 2022 and then, dramatically and all at once, disappearing under the Trump administration.
Official corporate websites are being scrubbed, DEI roles removed from job descriptions, positions devoted to encouraging diversity eliminated. In some government offices, scientific databases that have any mention of ‘diversity,’ ‘women,’ and “gender’ are being taken down. The need to bring the perspectives of women and people of color into the mainstream is now seen by many as unimportant – or worse.
I run a film festival dedicated to showcasing diverse voices, especially women’s voices and perspectives, and plan to continue. Let me tell you why.
By 2025, chances are you’ve consumed thousands of hours of visual media: actually going to the movies (remember that?) and watching television of all types – news, streaming series, specials, sports. Chances are you’re also seeing more and more social media in all its forms. And of course, surrounding all this are advertisements: for other media programs, drugs, lawyers, job-hunting platforms, online dating services, and every product you can dream of.
This media shapes us. It informs how we think. It affects not just the products we buy, but the way we see ourselves and others. When women are in ads for laundry detergent and men are in ads for tech, for example, this reinforces out-of-date gender norms. When women onscreen are regularly naked while men are clothed, this affects this. When men make up 80% of ‘expert sources’ on the news, this affects us. When men appear 4 times more and have 7 times more speaking roles in ads, this affects us. And when children’s television shows most ‘working’ people to be male, that affects our children.
These skewed perspectives are not created in a vacuum – they are created in an environment without diversity. The vast majority of those who create our film, tv, and ads are white men; about 75% of all leading cast and crew roles go to men. In 2023, women made up only 14.7 percent of movie directors! With such uniformity behind the camera, is it any wonder that what we see is unrealistic?
And it’s not just gender where diversity arises. Sarasota is ‘older’ and ‘whiter’ than the US median. Which is totally okay. But as a nation and a planet, we are phenomenally diverse. That’s not a matter of perspective, it’s the reality of our world today. We want, we need, to see younger and non-white perspectives as well.
So what, you might be saying to yourself? I would argue it’s the right thing to do for the future of our country, our nation of immigrants. But if that alone is not enough, here are two more selfish reasons.
First it helps us! We are better equipped to buy or sell products, make investments, choose career paths, hire employees, and so much more, if we have insights, and accurate information, about our diverse nation and world. If our media does not reflect the perspectives of the 70% of America who are not white men, where do we hear those voices?
Second, seeing diversity in media means we can we feel part of the world. I am not a Chinese immigrant in New York or a Lebanese shopkeeper in Detroit or a 4th generation Nebraska corn farmer – yet I most certainly want to know about their lives.
For us to understand and appreciate our diverse country, and world, we need to hear from a range of people. We need to see their perspectives. We may not agree on everything – and that’s fine. But all those diverse voices are equally valid.
So our festival shows films from all over and on every topic. This year alone our topics include a young man with autism, a joyous celebration of dance, a gorgeous true story of a whale encounter in the Cook Islands, and multiple films about water and the environment, to name just a few. Our films reflect not just the perspectives of those who make the majority of media, but the views of diverse filmmakers – leaving us richer for the experience.
E Scott Osborne is President of Through Women’s Eyes and Chair of the Reel Equals Film Festival.