REDESIGNING WOMEN: Television after the Network Era [Paperback]

"Redesigning Womenprovides a highly sophisticated, expertly handled explication of the social and industrial conditions surrounding the emergence of female-centered dramatic series in the late 1990s. . . . Lotz's earnest argumentation and evocative writing style makeRedesigning Womenan engaging, convincing read and significant research tool for scholars interested in the industrial production of media texts, particularly those that contribute to the always-evolving cultural canon of women's representations."--Jhistory

Amanda D. Lotz is an assistant professor of communication at the University of Michigan. She has contributed to theEncyclopedia of Television, Second Edition, and other books and journals.

The complex causes and effects of television’s changing portrayal of women

In the 1990s, American televison audiences witnessed an unprecedented rise in programming devoted explicitly to women. Cable networks such as Oxygen Media, Women’s Entertainment Network, and Lifetime targeted a female audience, and prime-time dramatic series such asBuffy the Vampire Slayer, Judging Amy, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City,andAlly McBealempowered heroines, single career women, and professionals struggling with family commitments and occupational demands. After establishing this phenomenon’s significance, Amanda D. Lotz explores the audience profile, the types of narrative and characters that recur, and changes to the industry landscape in the wake of media consolidation and a profusion of channels.

Employing a cultural studies framework, Lotz examines whether the multiplicity of female-centric networks and narratives renders certain gender stereotypes uninhabitable, and how new dramatic portrayals of women have redefined narrative conventions.Redesigning Womenalso reveals how these changes led to narrowcasting, or the targeting of a niche segment ol“1