
Televising Feminism
How Gender Politics Shapes Scripted TV
Jessica Ford(Author)
University of Illinois Press
Will be published approx. on 17. November 2026
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-252-05990-2 (ISBN)
Description
Starting in the 2010s, women played an increasingly prominent and complex role in the scripted television landscape of the United States. But did TV become more feminist in content and form? Or did the shows just seem more feminist because women took up more prominent positions?
Jessica Ford examines popular media's tendency to apply the feminist label to all women-centric TV. Focusing on the post-Sex and the City era that began in 2005, Ford explores how women-centric scripted TV absorbed the feminisms of its past. It now televises these feminisms in divergent, diffuse, and distinct ways that find expression as a sensibility rather than a cogent politic, genre, or category. Ford's analysis examines shows identified as feminist alongside programs that negotiate ideas, offer critiques, generate feelings and sentiments, and deploy aesthetics in both low-key and visible political ways.
Innovative and insightful, Televising Feminism looks at the construction and expression of the many feminisms at work on American scripted television.
Jessica Ford examines popular media's tendency to apply the feminist label to all women-centric TV. Focusing on the post-Sex and the City era that began in 2005, Ford explores how women-centric scripted TV absorbed the feminisms of its past. It now televises these feminisms in divergent, diffuse, and distinct ways that find expression as a sensibility rather than a cogent politic, genre, or category. Ford's analysis examines shows identified as feminist alongside programs that negotiate ideas, offer critiques, generate feelings and sentiments, and deploy aesthetics in both low-key and visible political ways.
Innovative and insightful, Televising Feminism looks at the construction and expression of the many feminisms at work on American scripted television.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
26 B&W images
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-252-05990-2 (9780252059902)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jessica Ford is a senior lecturer in media at Adelaide University, Australia.
Content
Introduction: US Scripted TV's Feminist Sensibility
Chapter 1 Feminism as Paratext: Promoting and Obscuring TV Feminisms
Chapter 2 Feminism as Negotiation: Women Talking is Political
Chapter 3 Feminism as Critique: Complexification of Postfeminism
Chapter 4 Feminism as Affect: Feelings to the Front
Chapter 5 Feminism as Aesthetics: From Low-key to Spectacular
Conclusion: Feminist, but not Feminist Enough
Appendix
Bibliography
Notes
Chapter 1 Feminism as Paratext: Promoting and Obscuring TV Feminisms
Chapter 2 Feminism as Negotiation: Women Talking is Political
Chapter 3 Feminism as Critique: Complexification of Postfeminism
Chapter 4 Feminism as Affect: Feelings to the Front
Chapter 5 Feminism as Aesthetics: From Low-key to Spectacular
Conclusion: Feminist, but not Feminist Enough
Appendix
Bibliography
Notes