Bad Girls: The Media, Sex & Feminism in the 90s

by Catharine Lumby

Catharine Lumby gives us a controversial and exciting new take on debates surrounding pornography, censorship and the media, arguing that the complaints of sexism which are often levelled at popular culture and the media are simplistic and out-of-date.
Feminist attitudes to censorship of the mass media have become a crucible for this debate. Many younger women disagree with campaigns against sexist ads and images in the media and often openly consume pornography themselves. They reject the victim tag for women and have a more complex view of the way power operates in contemporary society. Feminist censorship is puritanical and outmoded, not recognising the ease with which today's young women engage with the media or indeed the aplomb with which these women practise feminism and manage their sexuality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism

228 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 1997

Reviews

[Jess]

I have read chapters of this over the years for various assignments in various classes. Catharine Lumby is important to Australian Feminism. Her critique of Australian media remains as relevant now as it was when she wrote this book 12 years ago. She asks us to question everything - Feminist Critique, Patriarchy, advertising, what people tell us advertising is trying to tell us, censorship - all of it.

This is the first time I have ever read the book cover to cover - I am sure i have read chapters 1,2, 6, and 8 at least 5 or 6 times - and it was important to do so to really get a feel for Lumbys argument. It is all good and well to understand how conservatism and feminism tend to go hand in hand in this country as we allow second wavers to dominate public rhetoric - but how is this really playing out? and sure - we know that media representations of women tend to dumb us down, but is it really our place to tell women what they SHOULDNT like? If women have an appetite for certain things, shouldnt we respect that? its one thing to teach media literacy, and teach people how to view media critically, but it is quite another to try to police the media that they consume. If many second wavers had their way in this country, that is precisely what would happen, and I for one dont want to be told what kind of person (or woman) I am. Its an important book to read, and it is always refreshing to find feminist literacy books that are not American - as that is what dominates the market. I cant wait to read Gotcha!

[Dfordoom]

One of the more interesting books I’ve read this year. Lumby is an Australian academic and feminist. She’s particularly interesting on the subject of moral panics in and involving the media, especially in relation to sex and violence, and also on the subject of sexism in advertising. She points out the disturbing way in which many feminists have lined themselves up alongside hardline conservatives and Christian fundamentalists on these issues. She makes an even more interesting point – that many feminists as well as conservative moral crusaders seem to assume that women are passive consumers of the products of the media, and that in some ways the assumption that they need to be protected from such things is incredibly demeaning to women.

It’s one of many thought-provoking arguments in this fascinating and stimulating book. She’s equally interesting on the subject of the extraordinarily patronising attitudes that many academics have towards popular culture. I highly recommend this one.