Media Depictions of Brides, Wives, and Mothers

Contributions by Ann E. Burnette Texas State University, Mary Frances Casper, Hao-Chieh Chang, Dacia Charlesworth, Sheryl L. Cunningham, Lauren J. DeCarvalho, Deneen Gilmour, Victoria L. Godwin, Heidi E. Hamilton, Marceline Thompson Hayes, Paula Hopeck, Rebecca K. Ivic, Deborah A. Macey, Hinda Mandell, Christy Ellen Mesaros-Winckles, Rita L. Rahoi-Gilchrest, Alyssa Ann Samek, Marcia M. Smith, Erika M. Thomas, Diana L. Tucker, Lynne M. Webb Edited by Alena Amato Ruggerio

Publication date:

27 September 2012

Length of book:

258 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

234x160mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739177082

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.

Read the author's recent interview with Literary Ashland. You can also visit the author's website here.




Alena Amato Ruggerio's anthology offers a stimulating collection of chapters by scholars who discuss the impact of myths and stereotypes in media portrayals of brides, wives, and mothers. What's most intriguing and hopeful is its media literacy approach, which neither wholly blames nor wholly forgives but rather advocates the empowerment of media consumers through critical thinking and social activism that can replace inappropriate and damaging images and perceptions with 'equality and justice.' This collection's excellent chapters provide road maps for this worthy outcome.