Current Perspectives in Feminist Media Studies features contributions written by a diverse group of stellar feminist scholars from around the world. Each contributor has authored a brief, thought-provoking commentary on the current status and future directions of feminist media studies. Although contributors write about numerous, discrete subjects within the field of feminist media studies, their various ideas and concerns can be merged into six broad, overlapping subject areas that allow us to gain a strong sense of the expansive contours of current feminist communication scholarship and activism which the authors have identified as generally illustrative of the field. Specifically, authors encourage feminist media scholars to engage with issues of political economy, new ICTs and cybercultures as well as digital media policy, media and identity, sexuality and sexualisation, and postfeminism. They stress that feminist media scholars must broaden and deepen our theoretical frameworks and methodologies so as to provide a better sense of the conceptual complexities of feminist media studies and empirical realities of contemporary media forms, practices and audiences. This book was originally published as a special issue of Feminist Media Studies.

Feminist Approaches to Media Theory and Research tackles the breadth and depth of feminist perspectives in the field of media studies through essays and research that reflect on the present and future of feminist research and theory at the intersections of women, gender, media, activism, and academia. The volume includes original chapters on diverse topics illustrating where theorization and research currently stand with regard to the politics of gender and media, what work is being done in feminist theory, and how feminist scholarship can contribute to our understanding of gender as a mediated experience with implications for our contemporary global society. It opens for discussion how the research, theory, and interventions challenge concepts of gender in mediated discourses and practices and how these fit into the evolving state of contemporary feminisms. Contributors engage with discussions about contemporary feminisms as they are understood in media theory and research, particularly in a field that has changed rapidly in the last decades with digital communication tools and through cross-disciplinary work. Overall, the book illustrates how the politics of gender operate within the current media landscapes and how feminist theorizing shapes academic inquiry of these landscapes.

Feminist Media Studies is a cutting-edge introduction to the core and emerging theories, methods, and approaches in a field that has blossomed over the past twenty-five years. Adopting an intersectional approach – a framework concerning the interconnected character of oppression based on gender, race, class, and other constructed identities – Alison Harvey takes a global view of gendered practices in and around the media. She provides an accessible overview of classical and contemporary issues in media culture by exploring the past, present, and future of feminist media studies, accounting for changes in the media landscape, from digital technologies and globalized media systems to emergent inequalities, discourses, and practices. By engaging with research from a diverse body of scholarship, this book situates feminist media studies as vital to researching and analysing a range of significant issues. The go-to textbook for a new generation of students, as well as an important resource for scholars, Feminist Media Studies is both an exciting invitation to the field and a passionate call to arms.

"Questions of gender are scarce in the mass communication literature and feminist media studies remain marginalized. Here is a strong effort to remedy the situation, an overview that initiates the newcomer and offers topics and methods for the previously initiated. . . . All levels." --Choice Feminists have long recognized the significance of the media as a forum for the expression of--or challenges to--the existing constructions of gender. In this broad-ranging analysis, Liesbet van Zoonen explores how feminist theory and research contribute to a fuller understanding of the media's multiple roles in the construction of gender in contemporary societies.

While feminists have long recognised the importance of self-managed, alternative media to transport their messages, to challenge the status quo, and to spin novel social processes, this topic has been an under-researched area. Hence, this book explores the processes of women's and feminist media production in the context of participatory spaces, technology, and cultural citizenship. The collection is composed of theoretical analyses and critical case studies. It highlights contemporary alternative feminist media in general as well as blogs, zines, culture jamming, and street art.

Exploring the breadth of contemporary feminist research practices, this engaging text immerses the reader in cutting-edge theories, methods, and practical strategies. Chapters review theoretical work and describe approaches to conducting quantitative, qualitative, and community-based research with participants; doing content or media analysis; and evaluating programs or interventions. Ethical issues are addressed and innovative uses of digital media highlighted. The focus is studying gender inequities as they are experienced by individuals and groups from diverse cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and with diverse gender identities. Delving into the process of writing and publishing feminist research, the text covers timely topics such as public scholarship, activism, and arts-based practices. The companion website features interviews with prominent feminist researchers. Pedagogical Features *Case examples of feminist research. *Running glossary of key terms. *Boxes highlighting hot topics and key points for practice. *End-of-chapter discussion questions and activities. *End-of-chapter annotated suggested reading (books, articles, and online resources). *Sample letters to research participants. *Appendix of feminist scholars organized by discipline.

The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender offers a comprehensive examination of media and gender studies, charting its histories, investigating ongoing controversies, and assessing future trends. The 59 chapters in this volume, written by leading researchers from around the world, provide scholars and students with an engaging and authoritative survey of current thinking in media and gender research. The Companion includes the following features: With each chapter addressing a distinct, concrete set of issues, the volume includes research from around the world to engage readers in a broad array of global and transnational issues and intersectional perspectives. Authors address a series of important questions that have consequences for current and future thinking in the field, including postfeminism, sexual violence, masculinity, media industries, queer identities, video games, digital policy, media activism, sexualization, docusoaps, teen drama, cosmetic surgery, media Islamophobia, sport, telenovelas, news audiences, pornography, and social and mobile media. A range of academic disciplines inform exploration of key issues around production and policymaking, representation, audience engagement, and the place of gender in media studies. The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender is an essential guide to the central ideas, concepts and debates currently shaping media and gender research.

This collection of interdisciplinary essays examines current cinematic and media landscapes from the perspective of transnational feminist practices and methodologies. Focusing on film, media art, and video essays, the contributors chart innovative strategies for exploring contemporary visual cultures.

Highlighting the contributions of feminist media history to media studies and related disciplines, this book focuses on feminist periodicals emerging from or reacting to the Edwardian suffrage campaign and situates them in the context of current debates about the public sphere, social movements, and media history.

This is a remarkable book that embraces the challenge of rethinking communication theory. Much more inclusive than most communication volumes, this guidebook offers a rich diversity of voices, along with a conceptual framework for remaking communication theory. Illuminating, innovative, eloquent-and transforming. -Cheris Kramarae, University of Oregon This is a book not only of and for feminist communication theory, but of and for feminists. After a preface that marks and remarks in creative ways how the personal is political, Rakow and Wackwitz offer a compelling account of the need and potential of feminist theorizing for social and structural transformation. The collection represents a range of experiences, problems, voices, and thus will be useful to scholars, students, and activists. -Linda Steiner, Rutgers University Feminist Communication Theory is a book of and for feminist communication theorists, providing the potential to help individuals understand the human condition, name personal experiences and engage these experiences through storytelling, and give useful strategies for achieving justice. Lana F. Rakow and Laura A. Wackwitz examine the work of feminist theorists over the past two decades who have challenged traditional communication theory, contributing to the development of feminist communication theory by identifying its important contours, shortcomings, and promise. Arguing that feminist communication theory must address theories of gender, communication, and social change, Rakow and Wackwitz describe feminist communication theory as explanatory, political, polyvocal, and transformative. The book is constructed around the three keyconcepts of difference, voice, and representation to reflect on how feminist theory reshapes our thinking about gender and communication. Feminist Communication Theory represents a variety of voices from different theoretical, cultural, and geographic perspectives to illustrate the complex challenge of constructing new theoretical positions.Key Features Explores key works and issues of feminist theory relevant to gender and communication Examines a broad range, well beyond conventional wisdom, of women 's perspectives and experiences Provides tools to develop the theoretical potential of both feminist and communication theory Feminist Communication Theory is designed for undergraduate and graduate courses on feminist communication, gender and communication, communication theory, speech, rhetoric, and mass communication. The book will also be of interest to feminist scholars in a variety of disciplines, as well as students and scholars in Women 's Studies and Cultural Studies.