Critical Readings: Media and Gender

by Carter, Cynthia; Steiner, Linda

• ISBN13: 9780335210978
• ISBN10: 033521097X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

How is gender constructed in the media? To what extent do portrayals of gender influence everyday perceptions of ourselves and our actions? In what ways do the media reinforce and sometimes challenge gender inequalities? Critical Readings: Media and Gender provides a lively and engaging introduction to the field of media and gender research, drawing from a wide range of important international scholarship. A variety of conceptual and methodological approaches is used to explore subjects such as: entertainment; news; grassroots communication; new media texts; institutions; audiences. Topics include: Gender identity and television talk shows Historical portrayals of women in advertising The sexualization of the popular press The representation of lesbians on television The cult of femininity in women's magazines Images of African American women and Latinas in Hollywood cinema Sexual violence in the media Women in popular music Pornography and masculine power Women's relationship to the Internet. This book is ideal for undergraduate courses in cultural and media studies, gender studies, the sociology of the media, mass communication, journalism, communication studies and politics.

Author Biography

Cynthia Carter is Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK. Her previous books include Violence and the Media (Open University Press, 2003), Environmental Risks and the Media (2000) and News, Gender and Power (1998). She is co-editor of the journal Feminist Media Studies .

Linda Steiner is Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA. She is editor of Critical Studies in Media Communication , serves on six journal editorial boards, and has written 30 journal articles and book chapters on feminist media, mediaethics, and journalism history. She is co-author of the forthcoming book The History of Women in Journalism in the US and UK (2994).

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Acknowledgements for Readings	xiii
Introduction to Critical Readings: Media and Gender	1	(10)
Cynthia Carter
Linda Steiner
Mapping the Contested Terrain of Media and Gender Research	11	(26)
Cynthia Carter
Linda Steiner
PART I TEXTS IN CONTEXT	37	(106)
From Mrs Happyman to Kissing Chaps Goodbye: Advertising Reconstructs Femininity	41	(27)
Myra Macdonald
The Politics of the Smile: `Soft News' and the Sexualization of the Popular Press	68	(19)
Patricia Holland
Murder, Gender and the Media: Sexualizing Politics and Violence	87	(16)
Saraswati Sunindyo
Old Strategies for New Texts: How American Television is Creating and Treating Lesbian Characters	103	(20)
Marguerite Moritz
Pretty Tough: The Cult of Femininity in Women's Magazines	123	(20)
Sherrie A. Inness
PART II (RE)PRODUCING GENDER	143	(98)
The Impact of Monitoring Media Images of Women	148	(14)
Margaret Gallagher
The Great Rock and Roll Swindle: The Representation of Women in the British Rock Music Press	162	(17)
Helen Davies
Losing Fear: Video and Radio Productions of Native Aymara Women	179	(19)
Carmen Ruiz
The Commercialization of Masculinities: From the `New Man' to the `New Lad'	198	(20)
John Beynon
Women and the Internet: The Natural History of a Research Project	218	(23)
Anne Scott
Lesley Semmens
Lynette Willoughby
PART III AUDIENCES AND IDENTITIES	241	(104)
Knowing Pornography	246	(19)
Robert Jensen
Sapphires, Spitfires, Sluts and Superbitches: Aframericans and Latinas in Contemporary Hollywood Film	265	(22)
Elizabeth Hadley Freydberg
Women and Soap Opera: Resistive Readings	287	(20)
Mary Ellen Brown
Freud vs. Women: The Popularization of Therapy on Daytime Talk Shows	307	(21)
Jane Shattuc
What Girls Want: The Intersections of Leisure and Power in Female Computer Game Play	328	(17)
Heather Gilmour
Glossary	345	(8)
Media and Gender Video Resources	353	(2)
Index	355