A Woman's Place
A WOMAN'S PLACE Project is an international collaborative of women working through media and education to address issues of gender equity and contribute to the process of social change.

The Project evolved from an international documentary series on issues of gender and power and now encompasses international outreach and education efforts as well as media education projects with women.

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION OR SUGGESTIONS:
MARIA NICOLO
201 W. 85th St.
Apt. 8C
New York, N.Y. 10024
USA
Ph: 1 212 877 3253
Email: maria_nicolo@msn.com
 PAROMITA VOHRA
28/17A, PMGP
Off Mahakali Caves Road
Andheri (E), Bombay 400 093
INDIA
Ph: 91 22 837 7960
Email: parodevi@vsnl.com

A WOMAN'S PLACE is a project that asks you to look at the big picture- and then look again, using the lens of gender. It invites us to dismantle old frameworks, while presenting new and transformative visions whereby we can reclaim the world for ourselves as women, men and citizens.

Our work integrates two areas-gender and media. As a project about gender, A WOMAN'S PLACE it examines inherent gender imbalances in social structures that affect not only women, but entire societies. The project analyses power-what it means, how it is created and distributed, who has it, what this means for those who don't-and integrates gender perspectives into this analysis.

As a project using media with a view to social change, A WOMAN'S PLACE has three aims:
  • Balance the one-dimensional portrayal of women in the media by introducing multiple, cross-cultural narratives of women's lives and women's alternative strategies to some of the most complex issues facing our world.
  • Encourage reflection on the role of media itself in shaping attitudes that perpetuate gender inequities.
  • Promote activists' use of media as a tool for social change to amplify and complement their on-going work.
OUR CURRENT WORK - AN INTEGRATED GENDER AND MEDIA PROJECT IN THREE COMPONENTS:

Our work uses a gendered perspective to analyze key areas of power. Using a gendered perspective is a question not only of changing the way the world looks at women-but of looking at the world as women see it. Using the lens of gender helps us see other ways of understanding the world, other ideas of justice, development and progress, otherwise left out by official or "mainstream" assessment. For that bias to change, gender analysis needs to be an integral part-not just a token appendix-of every field, whether it be political decision-making, governance, population issues, economics and business, youth development, education, academics or the media. What women have learned from experiences within their movements, is what they are presenting as a more just, more humane and more sustainable way of arranging the world's political, economic and social systems. It is the strategies, the knowledge and the lives of these women that A WOMAN'S PLACE explores and complements, through a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary approach.

The media is a powerful tool. Creatively used, it can also be an empowering one-where people are active users of the media, not passive recipients. To have a sustainable impact, we believe a media project should provide for the following factors:
  • content which audiences do not commonly receive
  • a space in which to process responses to this content
  • a framework within which to analyze how these responses are constructed by media images
  • an opportunity for audiences to exercise this framework
These are the ideas that inform the three components of A WOMAN'S PLACE :

  1. An International Documentary Series using the lens of gender and employing personal stories to illustrate global strategies in four key areas of power:
    • Law and Justice (Episode Complete)
    • Politics and Power (Episode in Development)
    • Work and Money (Episode in Development)
    • Body and Soul (Episode in Development)

  2. A comprehensive Distribution and Outreach Strategy conducted in partnership with our international advisory board and a network of community-based organizations. Targeting:
    • grassroots groups and community-based organizations
    • activists and policy makers
    • high school and university classrooms and educators

    Through this strategy, we have successfully distributed nearly 3,000 tapes of our pilot episode on Law and Justice.

  3. A Media Literacy Demonstration Project designed by women working in media and in partnership with New York City community-based groups. This demonstration project targets teen women and women in mutual aid groups, focusing on a gender analysis of media-both its form and content-to help women develop critical and creative skills for an empowered relationship with the media. We have developed this component from an analysis of women's responses to the pilot episode during our audience feedback study and from work in community organizing.
Home
International Documentary Series
Comprehensive Distribution and Outreach Plan: Experiences with the Pilot Episode
Media Education Demonstration Project
Advisory Board
Educational Guide
Who We Are