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Soaps and Sitcoms: Gender. Theoretical contexts. Theoretical contexts. feminism film studies cultural studies. Theoretical contexts. genre representation and identification everyday viewing practices. Genre. example: soaps. Genre. example: soaps ... a “feminine” genre?. Genre.
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Theoretical contexts feminism film studies cultural studies
Theoretical contexts • genre • representation and identification • everyday viewing practices
Genre example: soaps
Genre example: soaps ... a “feminine” genre?
Genre • example: soaps • ... a “feminine” genre? • openness: a feminine aesthetic?
Genre • example: soaps • ... a “feminine” genre? • openness: a feminine aesthetic? • “tragic structure of feeling,” melodramatic imagination as feminine?
Everyday viewing practices • David Morley, “The framework of family viewing in Great Britain”
Everyday viewing practices • David Morley, “The framework of family viewing in Great Britain” • power and control over program choice
Everyday viewing practices • David Morley, “The framework of family viewing in Great Britain” • power and control over program choice • styles of viewing
Everyday viewing practices • David Morley, “The framework of family viewing in Great Britain” • power and control over program choice • styles of viewing • ‘solo’ viewing and guilty pleasures
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism • authenticity, ideology
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism • authenticity, ideology identity and identification:
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism • authenticity, ideology identity and identification: • identity and difference(s) • psychoanalysis
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism • authenticity, ideology identity and identification: • identity and difference(s) • psychoanalysis power:
Representation and identification • representation: • mimesis vs. constructivism • authenticity, ideology identity and identification: • identity and difference(s) • psychoanalysis power: • hegemony, (dis)empowerment
Representation and identification • representation: • women’s movements! • ... struggles for representation
Representation and identification • CS brings these two strands--theoretical and historical--together: • “representation” = multi-dimensional political term/concept
Example: Female “types” • in U.S. sitcoms: • the goodwife • the witch • the liberated woman • the harpy
Female “types” • Roy Stafford: • matron/working battleaxe • sexy assistant • business matriarch • woman in a man’s world • the vamp (1980s) • woman in power • women who fight other women • woman who who watches her ‘biological clock’
Female “types” • Jordan (in Dyer 1981) several broad types in Coronation Street: • Grandmother figures • marriageable characters: mature, sexy, women; spinsterly types; young women; mature, sexy, men; fearful, withdrawn men; conventional young men • married couples • rogues (including 'ne'er-do-wells' and confidence tricksters)
Female “types” • Buckingham adds the stereotypes: • 'the gossip’ • 'the bastard' • 'the tart’ • and more: • 'the good girl' • 'the decent husband’ • 'the good woman’ • 'the villain' • 'the career woman' • 'the bitch' (Geraghty 1991)
Gender: Men, too?! • contexts:
Gender: Men, too?! • contexts: • masculinity studies • gender studies
Male “types” • Stafford: • ‘little man against the system’ • self-important man • the would-be lothario • the man who won’t grow up • the man who is afraid of women
“Other Sexes”: 1990s and onwards • representation? • heteronormativity?
The L-Word (2004) • IMDB audience review: • „I've read a lot of comments in different forums about how these women don't look like "lesbians". I'm not sure what "lesbians" they've been looking at but the ones that I know look a lot like these women. Progressive, professional, feminine, sexy and proud of it. Keep up the good work Chaiken and crew!“ • Representation and authenticity?
Gender • cultural studies: contextualization!
The “Circuit of Culture” representation identity production consumption regulation • Paul Du Gay, Stuart Hall, Linda Janes, Hugh Mackay, und Keith Negus. Doing Cultural Studies. The Story of the Sony Walkman. London: Sage/The Open University, 1997.