Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction [Paperback]

David Gauntlett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0415189608 | ISBN-13: 978-0415189606

Media, Gender and Identity is an introduction to the relationship between media and gender identities today. It begins with an assessment of the different ways in which gender and identity have previously been studied and provides new ways for thinking about the media's influence on gender and sexuality. David Gauntlett explores the gender landscape of contemporary media and draws on recent theories of identity negotiation and queer theory to understand the place of popular media in people's lives. Using a range of examples from films such as Charlie's Angels and What Women Want , soap opera and primetime television programmes, and men's and women's magazines including FHM, Loaded , Maxim , Cosmopolitan , Marie Claire and Vogue , Media, Gender and Identity shows how the media are used in the shaping of individual identity. Media, Gender and Identity includes: *a comparison of gender representations in the past and gender representations today *an introduction to theorists such as Theodor Adorno, John Fiske, Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler *a discussion of queer theory and a review of gender as performance *the media making of contemporary female and male identities *a comprehensive and regularly updated website at www theoryhead.com/gender.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An exuberant account of the changing landscape of popular media and culture. David Gauntlett shows how gender politics are reinvented for popular consumption, in ways which illustrate the media alert to its own critics but also influenced by new ways of thinking and effected by the introduction of new constraints.
–Angela McRobbie, Goldsmiths College, University of London

About the Author

David Gauntlett is lecturer in Communication at the University of Leeds. His previous publications include TV Living (Routledge 1999), Web Studies (2000) and Moving Experiences (1997).

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (September 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415189608
• ISBN-13: 978-0415189606
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,292,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent introduction, not only for media students!, October 29, 2002

By 

Sarkk (Österreich) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction (Paperback)

There are dozens of books on popular culture and its relation to gender and identity issues out there, but this one is extraordinary: concise, up-to-date, and very readable. Mr Gauntlett wrote not only an introduction to the main theories of popular culture like Giddens, Foucault or queer theory - he illustrated all the discussed theoretical concepts with recent examples like movies, TV series, music, websites, and magazines.

If you are a student of media studies and always wanted to know how popular culture influences our lifestyles and our concepts of gender and identity - grab this book! It is well written and clearly structured with plenty of cross-references and suggestions for further reading. A unique feature is the accompanying website where additional material can be found.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunate, July 31, 2008

By 

Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Media, Gender and Identity (Kindle Edition)

I was very excited when I first read the synopsis and reviews for this book. I thought it would make a great text for my Gender and the Media course, because it uses up to date examples and covers a wide range of media forms. Although I am a psychologist, I want to teach my course from an interdisciplinary perspective and thought choosing a text from a different discipline would be the perfect way to give a more diverse perspective on how to approach the subject matter. Unfortunately, upon reading the book, it became clear that the author has contempt for how psychologists approach gender identity and media studies. Rather than incorporating the psychological literature with work from other disciplines to form a fuller understanding of the topic, the author implies that quantitative research on social phenomena is fruitless. Furthermore, he interjects derogating comments about psychological research throughout the text. I personally believe the best way to truly understand how media, gender, and identity intersect would be to draw from both quantitative and qualitative studies and recognize that incorporating different theoretical perspectives and methodologies strengthens an analysis. The author clearly does not share my opinion, and thus I think his book only serves to further isolate scholars who should be trying to work together.

5.0 out of 5 stars Plain english, November 5, 2007

By 

PJF (NZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction (Hardcover)

This book is amazing. I was struggling to come to grips with Judith Butler (and Foucault). I tried to understand what Butler had written and found it too dense. I tried to read those who had interpreted her and found them even worse. Then I read Media, Gender, and Identity and the sections on Butler and Foucault (written in plain English). There followed a period of 'enlightenment'.