Academy Award-Winning Actor Geena Davis Speaks At St. Ben’s [AUDIO]

ST. JOSEPH -- Academy Award-winning actor, Geena Davis spoke to a crowd of students and community members at The College of St. Benedict tonight.

Davis' presentation was part of the 2014 Renaissance Series lecture. Her topic of discussion was the role of women in the media.

She touched on her own experiences playing strong female characters in movies and television shows like "A League of Their Own" and "Commander-in-Chief."

Davis says when women play a greater role on TV and in film  it has a direct effect on women off screen.

She has conducted research into the role of women and girls in "G" and "PG" rated shows aimed at children. She says the results suggest the message is that girls are far less important than boys.

She says right now only about 17-percent of women are represented in careers like journalism, government and law both on and off screen.

She says that one way to combat these statistics is to create an equal ratio of men and women on screen. Davis says she believes more women will have the confidence to go after certain careers if they see other females doing it on TV.

Davis says in her role as the first female president in "Commander-in-Chief" a survey found that 60-percent of people that watched the TV show were more likely to vote for a female president.

A question and answer session followed Davis' presentation.