On Tuesday, October 6, 2015, ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza became the first woman to call a nationally televised major league baseball playoff game. An accomplished Olympic and All-American softball star, Mendoza has been an analyst with ESPN since 2007, so her rise to the top in baseball broadcasting should surprise no one.
But it did.
I have always been a writer, but there was a time when I was afraid to share my work. Words are powerful. I realized this from the start. I just didn’t know how others would view the words I had written. But then I realized something. I don’t write to be perfect. I write because I have something to share about an experience that didn’t have a movie-script ending. I write to heal, and others can benefit from hearing my story.
As parents, my husband and I try to limit our daughter’s screen time to mostly educational children’s shows such as “Sesame Street” and “Super Why!” But let’s be honest here: there are days where work and school completely does us in and we want to do nothing more than zone out in front of the television. Herein lies my current media obsession: finding entertaining-TV-shows-that-we-can-watch-in-front-of-our-children-but-do-not-feature-any-sort-of-cartoon-character-or-singing. You would think it would be an easy task considering we have more accessible channels now compared to 30 years ago. Yet, gone are the days of “Full House,” “Mork & Mindy” and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” that used to compete for screen time at my parents’ house growing up.
I was raised on a diet of fairy tales and a healthy dose of curiosity. In the stories I read while perched on the armchair of my living room sofa, there was always a happy ending with a period at the end of a sentence. But I soon found happy endings were not enough for me. One person’s happiness could be another person’s misery. Fairy tales, I realized, were one sided. No one ever sat down with Ursula, Cruella De Vil, or The Wicked Witch of the West to ask for their versions of the tale. They were marked as villains from the start. Period. No questions asked.
In an attempt to simplify the complicated nature of men and women, society has allowed media to define and otherwise perpetuate gender stereotypes that dumb down the human experience. And, in its attempt to elevate one gender, denigrate the other.
Turn on any prime-time channel and you will see one of several scenarios. Men lead and women follow. Women lead and men are buffoons. Or worse yet, men are the aggressors and women are the victims. Rarely are men shown as capable of being equal partners with the women in their lives.
Entertainment geared towards women follows certain trends.
We’ve had the whole Fifty Shades of Gray phenomenon featuring a curious young woman willingly subjecting herself to the punishment of a dashing, super wealthy man.
Now we have the hot new TV series Odd Mom Out and bestselling memoir Primates of Park Avenue featuring super wealthy young women of New York’s super wealthy Upper East Side willingly subjecting themselves to the punishment of dashing, super wealthy men, grueling spin classes, and steady diets of kale.
The American Disabilities Act (ADA) should really be renamed the American Abilities Act, because that is its primary focus. The American Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, shifted America‟s viewpoint on those with disabilities. Instead of looking at what disabled people couldn‟t do, the ADA helped Americans to focus on what disabled people can do.
In newsrooms (and many living rooms) across the country, discussion about our media’s portrayal of women is front and center. Rampant through out TV and radio with live streamed shows, on air talent’s physical “Barbiefied” looks have become standard, if not required upon hiring, and not surprisingly of her male counterparts. Age, size, height, bust, skin color, legs, face, and hair style leads her vetting process, shamefully placing her journalistic prowess behind, “but does she look good??” Sadly bowing to misaligned decision makers keeps the lights on, at least for now.
When AWM Board Member Heather Cohen invited me to the Gracies Gala, I thanked her profusely, declaring her my Fairy Godmother. I really did feel like Cinderella – giddy, excited, and desperate for something awesome to wear! I borrowed my best friend’s dress and pearls, booked a blowout, packed my favorite lipstick, and the next thing I knew I was at the Beverly Hilton surrounded by the most inspiring women in the industry.
Name: Rayna Banks
Company: ESPN
Title: Associate Producer
Gracies Award and Year: Outstanding Special or Variety – 2015
Five Questions for Today’s Gracies
