MTV's "LOOK DIFFERENT" RECOGNIZES WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY WITH LAUNCH OF ALL-NEW GENDER BIAS INITIATIVE

New "Look Different" Study Finds That Only 24 Percent of Millennials Know Where to Turn When Dealing with Gender Bias

New York, NY, August 26, 2015 - In celebration of Women's Equality Day, commemorating the certification of the 19th Amendment which granted U.S. women the right to vote, MTV unveiled a major expansion of "Look Different," its multi-year, Emmy Award-winning anti-bias campaign, with new research and the first in a series of new initiatives focused on gender bias. MTV launched "Look Different" in April 2014 to illuminate race, gender, and anti-LGBT bias.

A new national gender bias study of 1,000 respondents ages 14 to 24 found that 74 percent of young people feel that a more open, constructive discussion about gender equality will help people become less biased. However, only 24 percent of Millennials know where to turn when dealing with gender bias. Furthermore, more than half (54 percent) of respondents "wish they knew how to tackle gender bias in today's society." "Look Different" will release additional research in mid-September.

"The majority of Millennials are aware of gender bias throughout society," said Ronnie Cho, head of MTV Public Affairs. "But many do not recognize how pervasive and insidious it truly is and need support in identifying ways to tackle it. In its first year, 'Look Different' has leveraged every MTV platform from the VMAs to our 'White People' documentary to confront racial bias, and we're now widening our aperture and applying our creative firepower to fight gender bias, as well."

In response to these trends, MTV is inviting the audience to look differently at gender biases ranging from the unintended consequences of common "micro-aggressions," street harassment and slut-shaming, to rape culture, workplace inequality, masculinity, feminism, gender norms and more.

Beginning today, the campaign will launch a series of gender-focused, thought-provoking PSAs (to view the PSAs click here and here) as well as an expansion of its digital tools at LookDifferent.org:

· Implicit Bias Quiz: In collaboration with Project Implicit, a non-profit hosted at Harvard, MTV unveiled a second custom Implicit Association Test, a simple but powerful quiz designed to unearth unconscious biases. The gender-bias quiz will feature some of the biggest names in pop culture, like Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, Aziz Ansari, Mindy Kaling and more, and will help reveal the automatic gender biases many of us have relating to fields like science and humanities. To take the quiz, click here.

· Gender Bias Cleanse: The second installment of its seven day de-biasing regimen delivers scientifically-grounded, daily exercises to help people unlearn biases that have built up over years. Developed in partnership with the Kirwan Institute, the gender bias cleanse will include activities like setting a counter-stereotypical image as the background on your phone, identifying the gender norms you were raised with and consuming media that helps build empathy and understanding for situations uniquely faced by women. To participate in the cleanse, click here.

In addition, MTV will air a special episode of its hit-series, "Girl Code," with "The Girl Code to Girls' Rights" today at 11 a.m. ET/PT. The episode will tackle controversial topics like slut-shaming, sexual pressure, equal pay, feminism and more. To watch the episode, click here.

Over the past year and a half, MTV's "Look Different" has connected deeply with young people to help drive a meaningful conversation and inspire audiences to take a stand. From undoing their own hidden biases to learning how to challenge bias when they see it, to date nearly 1.5 million actions have been taken by young people.

Since the campaign launched, "Look Different" has developed a wide range of original content, including the provocative and praised "White People," a groundbreaking documentary that examined race in modern day America from the viewpoint of white Millennials, and the Emmy Award-winning "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word," which took viewers inside the lives of seven transgender youth, exploring the intersection of transgender identities and race.

Additionally the campaign launched "White Squad," a satirical infomercial highlighting systemic racial inequality, and #TheTalk, where for the first time in the network's history, MTV aired all programming in black and white for 12 hours on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2015 in an effort to encourage audiences to have "color brave" conversations on race.

MTV has convened a world-class coalition of expert partners to help steer the "Look Different" campaign, including the Anti-Defamation League, Asian American Justice Center, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Council on Contemporary Families, Define American, GLAAD, GLSEN, Girls Who Code, Hollaback!, Kirwan Institute, LOVE, Love is Respect, Man Up, NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, National Partnership for Women and Families, Project Implicit, RAINN, The Ally Coalition, Southern Poverty Law Center and The Trevor Project.

About MTV:

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.