For all of the achievements of the women’s movement over the past four decades, misogyny remains a persistent force in American culture. In this important new documentary, Thomas Keith, Professor of Philosophy at California State University-Long Beach, looks specifically at misogyny and sexism in mainstream American media, exploring how negative definitions of femininity and hateful attitudes toward women get constructed and perpetuated at the very heart of our popular culture. The film tracks the destructive dynamics of misogyny across a broad and disturbing range of media phenomena: from the hyper-sexualization of commercial products aimed at girls, to the explosion of gender violence in video games aimed at boys; from the near-hysterical sexist rants of hip-hop artists and talk radio shock jocks, to the continually harsh, patronizing caricature of feminism found in virtually every area of American pop culture. Along the way, Generation M forces us to confront the dangerous real-life consequences of misogyny in all of its forms – making a compelling case that when we devalue more than half the population based on gender, we harm boys and men as well as women and girls. Featuring interviews with gender violence prevention educators Byron Hurt, Jackson Katz, and Jean Kilbourne; Kimberly Salter (National Organization for Women); Nancy Gruver (Founder and CEO, New Moon Media); and others.

(2008) 58 minutes

Watch the trailer below: