Hi,

My name is James and I'm currently writing my university dissertation. I study media therefore I am interested in representations and stereotypes. I'm trying to obtain information on the developments of portrayals of women from roughly the ‘70s onwards. I'm just not sure what feminist texts would be the best choice and I am hoping you could advise me?

I would greatly appreciate the input and thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail.

Yours,

James

Dear James,

Susan Douglas' book Where the Girls Are is a historical look at how women are portrayed. Her second book, Listening In, is about women and radio. Susan Faludi's book Backlash also looks at how women are portrayed in the media. Also, Read Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting by Laura Flanders analyzes the fact that those who create the media (i.e. men) determine what media gets valued and what gets overlooked. You should also reference the work of Jean Kilbourne, author of Killing Us Softly. She focuses on advertising. There are also a few anthologies:

• Facing Difference: Race, Gender, and Mass Media by Shirley Biagi, Marilyn Kern-Foxworth.
• Gender, Race and Class in Media edited by Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez.
• Women Transforming Communications by Donna Allen, Ramona Rush, and Susan Kaufman.

Assuming that you have access to a university library, these books should be pretty easy for you to find. I hope that helps and good luck with your dissertation

--Amy