Television, history, and American culture : feminist critical essays / edited by Mary Beth Haralovich and Lauren Rabinovitz.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Haralovich, Mary Beth.

Rabinovitz, Lauren, 1950-2025

Series:

Console-ing passions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television broadcasting--Social aspects--United States.

Television broadcasting.

Television broadcasting--Social aspects.

United States.

Television and women.

Physical Description:

222 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Durham [N.C.] : Duke University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In less than a century, the flickering blue-gray light of the television screen has become a cultural icon. What do the images transmitted by that screen tell us about power, authority, gender stereotypes, and ideology in the United States? Television, History, and American Culture addresses this question by illuminating how television both reflects and influences American culture and identity.

The essays collected here focus on women in front of, behind, and on the TV screen, as producers, viewers, and characters. Using feminist and historical criticism, the contributors investigate how television has shaped our understanding of gender, power, race, ethnicity, and sexuality from the 1950s to the present. The topics range from the role that women broadcasters played in radio and early television to the attempts of Desilu Productions to present acceptable images of Hispanic identity, from the impact of TV talk shows on public discourse and the politics of offering viewers positive images of fat women to the negotiation of civil rights, feminism, and abortion rights on news programs and shows such as I Spy and Peyton Place.

Innovative and accessible, this book will appeal to those interested in women's studies, American studies, and popular culture and the critical study of television.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [201]-209) and index.

ISBN:

0822323613

082232394X

OCLC:

41035423