Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader

by Gail Dines (editor), Jean McMahon Humez (Editor), William E Yousman (Editor)

How do mass media help shape our economic, cultural, political, and personal worlds? This provocative new edition of Gender, Race, and Class in Media engages you in critical media scholarship by encouraging you to analyze your own media experiences and interests. You will explore some of the most important forms of today’s popular culture―including the internet, social media, television series, films, music, and advertising―in three distinct but related areas of the political economy of production, textual analysis, and audience response. Multidisciplinary issues of power related to gender, race, and class are integrated into a wide range of articles examining the economic and cultural implications of mass media as institutions. You not only develop a comprehensive understanding of the media culture and communication processes, but also learn how media can be used to subvert prevailing narratives that reinforce the status quo. New to the Fifth

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Sociology, Reference, Communication, Race, Gender

712 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 2014

About the author

Gail Dines is an English–American feminist author, anti-pornography activist, professor, and lecturer.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essay about Barbie was very interesting as were the ones about Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order SVU, and Star Trek. A little dated, but this is not the current edition of the book.

[Cristiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really interesting, and relevant. I did wish at some points that there were a few more articles with opposing points of view, but overall, a really interesting introduction to media studies.

[Sally Sugarman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource. There are seventy articles in eight sections that cover many aspects of popular culture. The last sections on virtual communities and fandom is particularly interesting as it draws on Jenkins idea of convergence. The media and popular culture are controlled by the corporations, but also by the consumers. In other sections the articles on gender are particularly strong. The idea that women asserting their sexuality as an article of freedom is undercut by the reality that their sexuality is in the service of men. Far from being a sign of women’s liberation, it seems another way in which women are in the service of men. The articles on programs like Extreme Makeover and Nip/Tuck are other examples of women subjecting themselves to the pain of making themselves desirable according to a male version of beauty. The analysis of all the television programs the writers dissect are quite enlightening. What comes through is the way in which neo-liberalism forces the idea of individual responsibility for the sake of creating consumers. The media, controlled by a few mega corporations is in the service of capitalism and it does a great deal to undermine the role of government or altruism of any sort. People are not only sold products but an ideology in which white men rule supreme. The counterbalance to this is the audience as consumers of the media. The analysis of reality shows and soap operas are enlightening as to what messages they are intended to send and what messages people receive which can be quite different. The section on advertising and consumer culture reiterates many familiar themes freshly. In the section on children, much is done to take apart Disney as well as militaristic video games. There is also a great deal in the various sections how the media and capitalism deals with gay culture. The insights and information keeps coming with all of these different perspectives. The editors have chosen their articles well and organized them in the different sections effectively. Each article is annotated with supporting bibliography. There are also suggestions for how to organize the articles differently for teaching. There is a section at the end of an annotated list of significant documentaries on the subject of media. This is the 4th edition of the book so some of the articles may be different from in other editions. From their dates some are more recent than in previous editions.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know whether to give this 3 or 4 stars...there were essays I liked very much, but I did feel the book as a whole missed large sections of diversity (e.g. Sexuality)... However, I still loved the class for which this was the textbook...

[BMR, LCSW · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I ever read a textbook for fun. Great compilation. I didn't read all the stories, maybe 80% of them. I wish there was a master bibliography in the index for all the works cited, instead of just at the end of each piece.

[Sydney Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow. While I didn't read every single essay, I read most, and learned about niche groups, representation of cultures, and people with completely different media expectations from myself. I will definitely be referencing these essays in the future.

[Mills College Library]

306.7 G325 2015