Cracks in the Pedestal

Ideology and Gender in Hollywood

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by Philip Green

Type

Studies

Subject

Sociology

Keywords

women, gender, feminism

Publishing date

1997

Publisher

University of Massachusetts Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 272 pages
6 ¼ x 9 ¾ inches (16 x 25 cm)

ISBN-10
ISBN-13

1-55849-120-1
978-1-55849-120-5

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Book Presentation:
This book analyzes the ways in which the American film and television industry--the multifaceted, male-dominated institution known as Hollywood--has responded to the feminist cultural revolution of the past twenty-five years. The focus is on the treatment of those ideals and institutions, especially "the family," within which prevailing notions of gender and sexuality are embedded and take on active life. Distinguishing his own neo-Marxist approach from that of other media scholars, Philip Green pursues two interrelated themes. In the first part of the book, he looks at the strategies Hollywood has employed to deflect or absorb the ideological challenges posed by the feminist critique of contemporary American society. He demonstrates the ways in which mainstream movies and television programs, no matter how unconventional or "subversive" they may appear, produce and reproduce familiar images of sexuality and gender identity. In the second part, Green highlights instances in which reproduction of the dominant ideology is less successful by examining several recent new film noir--that portray the real ambiguities of a social order in upheaval. As a male consumer of the cultural commodities being discussed, the author offers a perspective on American films and television different from that of most other feminist critics.

About the Author:
Author of The Pursuit of Inequality and Retrieving Democracy, Philip Green is Sophia Smith Professor of Government at Smith College.

Press Reviews:
"This is an excellent book... Green has put together something which will be of definite use in a large and growing community of media studies and feminist academic programs."—Joel Kovel, Bard College

See the publisher website: University of Massachusetts Press