Yahoo News MIPCOM Women Execs Talk Inspiration and “Redefining the F-Word” (Feminism) at Global Entertainment Power Lunch
Inspiration can start at home.
For the panel of executives at this year’s MIPCOM Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch, an annual get-together of the female movers and shakers in the international television industry, their first role models were their own mothers.
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“My mother had a master’s degree in physics, to give you an idea of the brilliance of her mind,” noted The Hollywood Reporter‘s co-editor-in-chief Nekesa Mumbi Moody when asked about her first mentor. “She was also one of the first Black engineers in New York. She was brilliant. She really wanted me to got into maths or science, but I was always attracted to words. I always wanted to talk about stories and tell other people’s stories.”
The answer echoed that of the other members on the Power Lunch panel: Ruth Berry, ITV Studios’ managing director of global partnerships, and Universal International Studios and UCP president Beatrice Springborn, who both joined Moody on the stage of the Majestic Hotel ballroom Monday to talk about their careers, the progress made by women in the entertainment industry and the work that still needs to be done. Melissa Madden, evp international marketing at A&E Media Group, moderated the panel. A&E is a sponsor of the annual Power Lunch. The Hollywood Reporter, which publishes its annual list of the most powerful women in international television to coincide with the event, is the official media partner.
It was an inspiring and upbeat discussion, with the women calling for women in the entertainment industry to “redefine the ‘F’ word” (that word being feminism) to shift the focus from individual striving by women to broader support of female colleagues across the board.
“For so long, that word was defined as self-empowerment and I really think feminism is more about empowering others and, not just other women,” said Madden, “but it’s about looking around and seeing who also needs seats at the table and opportunities.”
“It speaks to the power of the patriarchy that we even feel the need to feel bad about the word feminism,” said Moody. “Because for me, feminism is about supporting other women. Why would you not want to empower women?”
The entire panel said they have seen major progress in the industry since the explosion of the #MeToo movement, with greater representation of women in positions of power and broader acceptance of “more female” leadership.
“One encouraging thing for me has been the redefinition of what it means to be a woman leader,” said Springborn, “because I think that a lot of times, we look to leadership and we define it as masculine or with male traits. And I definitely feel like, even over the past couple of years, there’s been more of an awareness of what it means to be a different type of leader or have stereotypical feminine traits and still be able to be an amazing guide and mentor. But there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Berry agreed. Working under a female boss (ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall) has made a major difference —”our workforce is now 52 percent female” she noted — and there has been a greater acceptance of the need for work/life balance, something she attributed to the “more empathetic nature of female leadership.”
But, she noted, #MeToo was only the beginning. “It was #MeToo. Now it’s: What Now? and: What Next?” Berry said. “I think #MeToo created an enormous awareness and it allowed people to speak up and come forward and share their experiences. But how we constructively keep moving on from that, opening that up across other settings to make a wider impact, that’s what’s ahead of us.”
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