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Women in Media

A Reference Handbook

Women in Media cover

Women in Media

A Reference Handbook

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Description

As a one-stop resource for understanding the participation and representation of women in US media, this book explores such areas as narrative film, scripted television programming, advertising, video games, news, and sports.

Coverage is wide-ranging and comprehensive, covering historical developments and trends as well as such relevant issues as gender disparities in pay and advancement opportunities, stereotypical gender portrayals in popular entertainment, sexual harassment in America's media and entertainment industries, and the dearth of positive media representations of women of color.

Engaging with this history and reading about current issues related to this topic will be useful to those interested in understanding more about why women's engagement in media – in such roles as performer, journalist, producer, and writer – is important. It will also help readers better understand how and why problematic media representations of women hinder efforts to achieve full gender equality in American society.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Background and History
Introduction
The New Woman in Early Media
– Male Depictions of the Ideal "Girl"
– Stereotypes of Women in Early Movies
– Portrayals of Women during Hollywood's Golden Age
Women in Developing Media Industries
– News
– Film
– Television
World War II Propaganda
Portrayals of Women in Postwar Entertainment Media
– American Entertainment Media and Feminism
Approaches to Analysis: How Representations of Women in Media Are Studied
– Theoretical Approaches
Common Stereotypes and Evolving Images of Women in Media
Women in Advertising
The Digital Age and Feminist Practices
– Third-Wave Feminism
Conclusion
Bibliography

2. Problems, Controversies, and Solutions
Introduction
Women in Film and Television
– Women in Film
– Women in Scripted Television
– Portrayals of Women Characters
– Social Media, Gender, and the Entertainment Industry
– Changing Dynamics and Positive Trends
– Casting Controversies
News Coverage and Women
– Women in News
– Media Coverage of Female Political Candidates
– Women in Sports Media
Women in Advertising and on Social Media
– Persistent Stereotypes
– Pro-Female Advertising/Femvertising
– Appearance-Focused Social Media Use
– Thinspiration, Fitspiration, and the Body Positive Movement
Solutions
– Changing Gender in the Media Landscape
– Industry Responses
– Increasing Media Literacy
Conclusion
Bibliography

3. Perspectives
Introduction
Magical and Difficult Women: Resisting the Waves of Feminism in Popular Television, Sara E. Quay, PhD
Same Girl, Different Show: Representations of Young Femininity in Teen TV, Lori Bindig Yousman, PhD
Defined by Desire and Dispossession: A Cautionary Tale about Early Film Representations of Native American Women, Virginia McLaurin
No More Dragons, Lotuses, and Tigers? The Evolution of Asian American Women in the Media, Melissa Yang, PhD
Women Discovered as Super, Nora Hickey
From Panel to Platform: Women Comics Creators on Instagram, Amaris Feland Ketcham
The Ava Effect: Women Amplifying Women behind the Camera, Susan X Jane
Media Coverage of Women's Sport, Dunja Antunovic, PhD and Nicole M. LaVoi, PhD
Exposing the "Invisible Majority"-Representations of Women in News Media, Julie Frechette, PhD

4. Profiles
Introduction
People
– Lois Weber (1879–1939)
– Lucille Ball (1911–1989)
– Barbara Walters (1931–)
– Caroline R. Jones (1942–2001)
– Oprah Winfrey (1954–)
– Geena Davis (1956–)
– Joanelle Romero (1957–)
– Christine Brennan (1958–)
– Avis Little Eagle
– Soledad O'Brien (1966–)
– Shonda Rhimes (1970–)
– Samantha Skey (1972–)
– Mindy Kaling (1979–)
– Chloé Zhao (1982–)
Influential Organizations and Representations
Ms. Magazine (1972–present)
The Color Purple (1985)
Sex and the City (1998–2004)
– The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)
Bibliography

5. Data and Documents
Introduction

Data
Film
– Figure 5.1 Percentages of Women Working in Hollywood: 1910–2010
– Figure 5.2 Percentages of Male and Female Characters in the Top Films of Each Year: 2007–2018
– Figure 5.3 Percentages of Films with Gender-Balanced Casts in the Top 100 Films of Each Year: 2007–2018
– Table 5.1 Exclusion of Underrepresented Women in the Top 100 Films of 2018
Scripted Television
– Figure 5.4 Race/Ethnicity of over 5,100 Female Characters on Television: 2018–2019
News
– Table 5.2 Numbers of LGBTQ Characters on Network, Cable, and Streaming Television Platforms in the 2019 Television Season
– Table 5.3 Sexual Orientation of Regular and Reoccurring LGBTQ Characters in the 2019 Television Season
– Table 5.4 Who Is Delivering News on Prime-Time Evening Broadcasts?
– Table 5.5 Percentages of Women Journalists Reporting in Different News Areas
– Table 5.6 Women and Men of Color Working in Local Television News
Sports Media
– Figure 5.5 Gender and Athlete Breakdown of 1,587 Instagram Images from ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and CBS Sports
– Table 5.7 Percentages of Women Employed at Associated Press Sports Editor (ASPE) Newspapers and Websites: 2014, 2017, and 2021
Advertising
– Table 5.8 Percentage of Advertising Characters Framed as Sex Objects in 251 Cannes Lions Film and Film Craft 2019 Advertisements
– Table 5.9 #Femvertising Award Winners: 2015–2019

Documents
– Document 5.1 Picturesque America, Anywhere in the Mountains by Charles Dana Gibson, c. 1900
– Document 5.2 O'Hara, Neal R. 1920. "Those Fluttering Flappers: The Demi-Dame Who Is Too Young to Marry and Too Old to Believe in Santa." New York Evening World, April 20, 1920
– Document 5.3 Congressional Hearing: "The Image of Aging in Media and Marketing"
– Document 5.4 House Committee on the Judiciary Hearing: "Diversity in America: The Representation of People of Color in the Media"
– Document 5.5 Reporter Sulome Anderson Speaks Out on Challenges for Women Journalists
– Document 5.6 Congressional Resolution on Media Diversity
Bibliography

6. Resources
Introduction
Selected Books and Articles: Twentieth Century
Selected Books and Articles: Twenty-First Century
Contemporary Research Reports
Digital Resources and Audio/Visual Material
Organizations
Relevant Hashtags
Scholarly Journals

7. Chronology

Glossary
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 23 Jul 2026
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Pages 368
ISBN 9798216494362
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Series Contemporary World Issues
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Amy M. Damico

Amy M. Damico, PhD, is professor of communication…

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