Media Depictions of Brides, Wives, and Mothers

by Ruggerio, Alena Amato; Burnette, Ann E.; Casper, Mary Frances; Chang, Hao-Chieh; Charlesworth, Dacia; Cunningham, Sheryl L.; DeCarvalho, Lauren J.; Gilmour, Deneen; Godwin, Victoria L.; Hamilton, Heidi E.; Hayes, Marceline Thompson; Hopeck, Paula; Ivic, R

• ISBN13: 9780739177082
• ISBN10: 0739177087
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-27
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Media Depictions of Brides, Wives, and Mothers, edited by Alena Amato Ruggerio, explores how television, film, the internet, and other media variously perpetuate gender stereotypes. The contributors to this volume bring a variety of feminist rhetorical and media criticism approaches from across the communication discipline to their analyses of how television, film, news coverage, and the Internet shape our expectations of the performance of women's identities. This collection includes studies of Bridezillas, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Sex and the City, Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, The Devil Wears Prada, Practical Magic, "momtini" blogs, and Mad Men fan websites. Readers will learn to apply the insights from each chapter to their own sets of myths, stereotypes, and assumptions about gendered roles, and to recognize the possibilities for both liberation and domination when women's practices of marrying, mating, and mothering are represented and misrepresented in the media. This collection is an essential contribution to media studies and criticism of gender stereotypes in contemporary culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Television
Domesticating Matrimonial Monstrosity: Bridezillas and Narratives of Feminine Containment	p. 11
The Reality of Televised Motherhood: The Personal Quest and Feminine Test of Kate Gosselin	p. 27
Marriage, Friendship, and Scandal: Constructing a Typology of Media Representation of Women in Desperate Housewives	p. 39
Ancient Archetypes in Modem Media	p. 49
Christian Patriarchy Lite: TLC's 19 Kids and Counting	p. 63
Film
Punishing Unfaithful Wives and Working Mothers: Messages of Postfeminism in Contemporary Film	p. 77
Love and Lack: Media, Witches, and Normative Gender Roles	p. 91
Head Above Water. Applying Nussbaum's "Capabilities Approach" to Deepa Mehta's 2005 Film	p. 103
News Coverage
Feminine Style and Militant Motherhood in Antiwar Discourse: Cindy Sheehan as Grieving Mother and/or Left-Leaning Radical	p. 115
Grisly Mama: Carnivorous Media Coverage of Sarah Palin	p. 129
"Stand by Your Man" Revisited: Political Wives and Scandal	p. 143
"Taking Care of the Children and the Country": Nancy Pelosi and the Trope of Motherhood in Partisan and Mainstream Media	p. 155
Local Media Madness: How One City's Media Helped Perpetuate the Myth of the "Perfect" Coach's Wife	p. 169
Who's Framing Whom? Michele Bachmann and the (Primary) Politics of Motherhood	p. 181
Internet
Momtinis, Not Martyrs: Examining 'Anti-Mom' Blogs, Muted Groups, Standpoints, and the Struggle over Motherhood	p. 197
Love Thy Mother? Traitorous Constructions of Motherhood in "Outsmart Mother Nature with Tampax" Campaign	p. 209
Taking the Audience Perspective: Online Fan Commentary about the Brides of Mad Men and Their Weddings	p. 223
Index	p. 237
Contributors	p. 243
About the Editor	p. 247
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