Course Code
Academic Year
In this course, we explore the complex ways that cultural notions of femininity and masculinity are produced, represented and consumed in the world of popular culture. Diverse forms of popular culture are examined including advertising, social media, gaming, internet memes, music, movies, television, pornography, and news media. While we look at messages about both masculinity and femininity that emerge from popular culture, we see that the representations of women and girls in popular culture are particularly problematic, as are their effects; sexual objectification, sexualized violence, misogyny and cyberabuse are embedded in many forms of popular culture. We explore the controversies and engagement with these social problems through a series of case studies focusing on recent popular culture phenomena.