The television broadcasting culture of Pakistan was changed dramatically in 2002. The President, General Pervez Musharraf, introduced a policy of liberalisation that enabled controversial issues such ...as honour killings, adultery, stoning to death, domestic violence, marriage after divorce and homosexuality to be increasingly depicted on screen. Women and TV Culture in Pakistan is the first in-depth analysis of this change in television content. Munira Cheema focuses on how 'gender issues' are dealt with on TV and examines the impact this has on female viewers. In Pakistan, television is often the only way in which women can access the public sphere (except through male guardians) and this book evaluates how TV content allows them to navigate their intersecting identities as Muslims, women and Pakistanis. At a time when religious conservatism is on the rise in the country, this book investigates why producers choose to focus on gender-based issues and the extent to which religion dictates social behaviour and broadcasting choices. Based on interviews with women viewers in Karachi as well as industry professionals including writers, directors and ratings experts, the research is a much-needed and original contribution to global television studies and gender studies.
Gladiators in Suits Simone Adams, Kimberly R. Moffitt, Ronald L. Jackson / Simone Adams, Kimberly R. Moffitt, Ronald L. Jackson
2019, 2019-08-21
eBook
One of the most popular shows to come out of Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes's production company, is ABC's political drama Scandal (2012–18)—a series whose tremendous success and marketing savvy led LA ...Times critic Mary McNamara to hail it as "the show that Twitter built" and Time magazine to name its protagonist as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013. The series portrays a fictional Washington, DC, and features a diverse group of characters, racially and otherwise, who gather around the show's antiheroine, Olivia Pope, a powerful crisis manager who happens to have an extramarital affair with the president of the United States. For seven seasons, audiences learned a great deal about Olivia and those interwoven in her complex world of politics and drama, including her team of "gladiators in suits, " with whom she manages the crises of Washington's political elite. This volume, named for both Olivia's team and the show's fans, analyzes the communication, politics, stereotypes, and genre techniques featured in the television series while raising key questions about the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and viewing audiences. The essays range from critical looks at various members of Scandal's ensemble, to in-depth analyses of the show's central themes, to audience reception studies via interviews and social media analysis. Additionally, the volume contributes to research on femininity, masculinity, and representations of black womanhood on television. Ultimately, this collection offers original and timely perspectives on what was one of America's most "scandalous" prime-time network television series.
Since its publication in 1929, the story of Doña Bárbara has haunted the collective Latin-American imagination, and has been adapted variously both for the small and big screen. Doña Bárbara ...Unleashed explores how Rómulo Gallegos's original story has been kept alive yet altered by subsequent screen adaptations; the book illustrates how film and telenovela adaptations have reinterpreted the story of Doña Bárbara in order to mirror changes in societal norms, such as the role of women in Latin American societies, and audience expectations. Particular attention is given to how spectators in the twenty-first century have played a crucial role influencing the alterations to which Gallegos's original plot has been subjected. Doña Bárbara Unleashed offers an original way of studying screen adaptations by engaging several adaptations of the same source text in dialogue with each other, rather simply comparing adaptations to the source text. This is a ground-breaking study that further develops readings through more traditional theories of screen adaptations with approaches emerging from fandom studies and audience responses.
Being a woman is exhausting. The hashtag #EveryDaySexism remains relevant to women's daily experiences, all over the world. Women have to: think about when and where they walk or run; assess where ...they will sit on public transport; deal with strange men following them to their car; hear vulgar comments on their appearance from strangers; worry about whether what they wear will attract 'too much of the wrong attention'; and so many other things in their daily life that men simply do not have to. Every single day, women must think about their personal safety when they are out in public. As an undergraduate student, I became highly adept at 'the elbow' - delivered many times to strange men who groped me from behind when I was out at pubs or bars. The #MeToo movement has changed things. It has created an atmosphere in which girls and women know that sexual harassment and assault is not acceptable, and that these actions should be reported. This incredibly positive move has led to the creation of films and television shows that feature women’s voices. Two recent productions are the movie Bombshell (BRON Studios, Annapurna Pictures, 2019) and the TV miniseries The Loudest Voice (Showtime, on Stan Australia, 2019). Both productions tell the story of former Fox News chairperson and CEO Roger Ailes, and his sexual harassment and assault of women at Fox News.
From Mean Girl to BFF, Girlfriends and Postfeminist Sisterhood explores female sociality in postfeminist popular culture. Focusing on a range of media forms, Alison Winch reveals how women are ...increasingly encouraged to strategically bond by controlling each other's body image through 'the girlfriend gaze'.
Being a woman is exhausting. The hashtag #EveryDaySexism remains relevant to women's daily experiences, all over the world. Women have to: think about when and where they walk or run; assess where ...they will sit on public transport; deal with strange men following them to their car; hear vulgar comments on their appearance from strangers; worry about whether what they wear will attract 'too much of the wrong attention'; and so many other things in their daily life that men simply do not have to. Every single day, women must think about their personal safety when they are out in public. As an undergraduate student, I became highly adept at 'the elbow' - delivered many times to strange men who groped me from behind when I was out at pubs or bars.
When Lieutenant Uhura took her place on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek, the actress Nichelle Nichols went where no African American woman had ever gone before. Yet several decades ...passed before many other black women began playing significant roles in speculative (i.e., science fiction, fantasy, and horror) film and television—a troubling omission, given that these genres offer significant opportunities for reinventing social constructs such as race, gender, and class. Challenging cinema’s history of stereotyping or erasing black women on-screen, Where No Black Woman Has Gone Before showcases twenty-first-century examples that portray them as central figures of action and agency. Writing for fans as well as scholars, Diana Adesola Mafe looks at representations of black womanhood and girlhood in American and British speculative film and television, including 28 Days Later, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Children of Men, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Firefly, and Doctor Who: Series 3. Each of these has a subversive black female character in its main cast, and Mafe draws on critical race, postcolonial, and gender theories to explore each film and show, placing the black female characters at the center of the analysis and demonstrating their agency. The first full study of black female characters in speculative film and television, Where No Black Woman Has Gone Before shows why heroines such as Lex in AVP and Zoë in Firefly are inspiring a generation of fans, just as Uhura did.
