Women and Soap Opera : A Cultural Feminist Perspective [Hardcover]

Women's soap opera viewing has long been thought of by feminists and nonfeminists as an unproductive waste of time. Blumenthal takes the opposing view, arguing that women's indulgence in these programs is actually liberating. In overcoming the social opposition to the stigma attached to the feminine content and style, and engaging in soap opera viewing, women celebrate their femininity, particularly their gendered identification with romance, relationality, intuitiveness, talkativeness, and other aspects of emotionality. This book will be of interest to academics in the areas of sociology, women's studies, and media studies.DANNIELLE BLUMENTHAL is a Ph.D. recipient from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.

A Cultural Feminist Study
Introduction
The Personal as Intellectual and Political
Feminist Study and the Academy: Research as Praxis
Feminist Perspective-Taking: Some Aspects
Feminist Qualitative Methodology: Some Aspects
Calling All Resources: Feminist-Compatible Methodologies and Methods
The Gender-Context Perspective and Its Antecedents
Conventional Wisdom: Effects and Gratifications
Complicating the Subject: Audience Response
The Politics of Meaning Construction: Feminist Perspectives
A Gender-Context Perspective: Women's Soap Opera Viewing as Interrelated Components of a Feminist Praxis
The Interplay between Women Viewers and Gendered Text
On Soaps: Feminine-Oriented Emotionality as an Attraction
On Talkshows: Masculinized Emotion Displays as a Turnoff
On Feminism: The Interplay between Identity Construction and Meaning Construction in the Act of Viewing
Feminist Scholarship on the Gendered Soap Opera Text
Arriving at a Feminist Aesthetic
Academic Conceptualizations of Soap Opera Form and Content
Feminist Scholarship on Soap Operas: The Feminine Aesthetic as a Feminist Aesthetic
The Gendered Social Contexts of Women's Soa