Sexual Rhetoric: Media Perspectives on Sexuality, Gender, and Identity

by Meta G. Carstarphen, Susan Zavoina

Overview

This work explores, through case studies and critical analyses, how media depictions affect the social construction of gender, sexuality, and identity. Through a combination of historical and contemporary topics, scholars examine the stereotypical portrayal of women and men and the contexts within which these stereotypes are illustrated. The studies also discuss the sociopolitical implications of symbols and images associated with these gender representations. Concrete references to particular media support both the methodological and theoretical approaches of the different essays. These quantitative and qualitative studies expose the myriad ways in which the media intervenes in our perception of popular culture.

Media and mass communication scholars will appreciate the many different media forms these essays encompass. The multicultural and gendered perspectives that comprise these writings will also appeal to students and educators of gender studies and contemporary rhetoric. Chapters are grouped in subsections that include newspaper, visual image in media, magazine, television, video, film, and cyberspace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313307881
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/30/1999
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Mass Media and Communications , #57
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

META CARSTARPHEN is Associate Professor of Jourbanalism at the University of North Texas./e She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and the Association for Education in Jourbanalism and Mass Communication, for which she serves as Vice-Chair of the Minorities and Communications Division.

SUSAN C. ZAVOINA is Associate Professor of Jourbanalism at the University of North Texas./e She is an award-winning photojourbanalist and is a member of the National Press Photographers Association and the Society for Photographic Education.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Media Rhetoric: A Way of Knowing by Meta G. Carstarphen
Media Messages: Visual Literacy/Visual Rhetoric by Susan Zavoina
Historic
The Liberator's "Ladies' Department," 1832-1837: Freedom or Fetters? by Jacqueline Bacon
To Strengthen the Wings of a Caged Bird: Constructing Woman in Margaret Fuller's Woman in the Nineteenth Century and The Una by Allessandria Polizzi
Newspaper
War in the Ranks: Newspaper Coverage of Sexual Harassment in the Military by Gene Murray
A Frenzy of Interest over the Perplexing Puzzle of Being a Man in America: Print Media Coverage of the Promise Keepers and Mythopoets by Dane S. Claussen
Necrophilia, Pedophilia, or Both?: The Sexualized Rhetoric of the JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case by Diane York Blaine
The Visual Image in Media
Media Mirage: The Thin Ideal as Digital Manipulation by Jacqueline C. Hitchon and Shiela Reaves
The Historical Development of Women's Posing from the Post Gold Rush Era to the Present Print Media by Cecelia Baldwin
Magazine
That Time of the Month: Adolescence, Advertising, and Menstruation by Debra Merskin
Face-ism Reconsidered: Facial Prominence and Body Emphasis of Males and Females in Magazine Advertising by Kathy Brittain McKee and Carol J. Pardum
Designed for (Male) Pleasure: The Myth of Lesbian Chic in Mainstream Advertising by Tom Reichert, Kevin R. Maly, and Susan Zavoina
"That Undefinable Whatever": Selling Virginity by Elizabeth Dietz
Gendered Bodies Still Thrive in (Post) Modern Magazine Land by Jacqueline J. Lambliase, et al.
Television
Super Bowl Speak: Subtexts of Sex and Sex Talk in America's Annual Sports Extravaganza by Linda K. Fuller
Agitational Versality: When Truth Met Jordan by Phyllis Pearson Elmore
Deconstructing Ellen: Time, Sitcoms, and the Meaning of Gayness by Meta G. Carstarphen and Susan Stearns
"We Got Next": The WNBA Advertising Campaign's Negotiations with "Feminity" by Kara Keeling
Video
Competing Rhetorical Strategies in the Gay and Lesbian Video Wars: Marching for Freedom and Gay Rights, Special Rights by Emile C. Netzhammer
Contradictions in the Country: Rituals of Sexual Subordination and Strength in Music Video by Julie L. Andsager
Inventing a Sexual Discourse: A Rhetorical Analysis of Video Box Covers by Joseph W. Slade
Film
Sexual Imagery and the Space of Love by Anthony Enns
Cyberspace
Third Wave Feminism and Cybersexuality: The Cultural Backlash of the New Girl Order by Kimber Charles Pearce
Girls Can Be Doctors and Boys Can Be Nurses: Surfing for Solutions to Gender Stereotyping by Paul Martin Lester
Index

Editorial Reviews

Scholars of literature and communications explore depictions in electronic, print, and new media by critically analyzing media intervention in the understanding of popular culture, stereotypical portrayals of women and men and their contexts, and sociopolitical implications of symbols and images used to portray gender roles in society. They use rhetorical perspectives to instruct readers on ways to read the messages. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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