Representations of gender are inherent in popular culture. This new book series explores many different strands of contemporary 'culture', encompassing, cinema, television, graphic novels, fashion studies, reality TV - all within a critical framework of class, ethnicities, gender identities and embodiment.
As we re-imagine and re-boot at an ever faster pace, the series asks, what has changed for gender, and what has not? Are there gains for ‘gendered’ groups or does ‘gender’ define and limit us, and popular culture restrain us?
There is an established body of work about ‘gender’and its place in popular culture, but gender is a shifting term and gender studies no longer apply only to women and femininities. Gender cannot be approached unproblematically, nor in isolation. It applies to men and masculinities, and encompasses non-binary identities and experiences, aswell as issues about 'race', ethnicities and class. Gender is a flexible and increasingly political and subjective term, and popular culture plays a key role in how gender norms, stereotypes, challenges and identities are formed.
Popular culture is, similarly, a contested term and here applies to a range of cultural texts and practices. Pop idols and icons are often now, literally, the girl or boy next door. The gendered cultural experience is often one of tensions and paradoxes, for example, where images of women as objects of desire are prevalent, yet simultaneously we are assured that this is a period of gain and advancement for women. This book series offers a place for scholars to reflect on the production, consumption and representation of popular cultural forms and their intricate and pervasive links to gender identities and gender roles.
We not only consume cultural texts but also share them more than ever before; meanings and messages reach more people and perpetuate more understandings and misunderstandings than at any time in history. This new series interrogates whether feminism has challenged or changed misogynist attitudes in popular culture.
Emerald Studies in Gender and Popular Culture provides a focus for writers and researchers interested in sociological and cultural research that expands our understanding of the ontological status of gender, popular culture and related discourses, objects and practices. In turn, the book series enables scholars to theorize about the status and category and development of ‘gender’ in contemporary culture and society.
Dr Samantha Holland
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