Professor Maher's areas of expertise cover popular culture, American women's literature, third wave feminism, gender and the body, and contemporary women's writing. She is currently at work on a large project focused on representations of teachers in popular culture. A sampling of Dr. Maher's writings include Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture and Secrets and Confidences: The Complicated Truth about Womens Friendships.
Courses
Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture
This seminar examines the "making" of masculinity and femininity within popular culture. Through a variety of theoretical perspectives, representations of gender and sexuality in American film, television, and print media will be explored. The work of media scholars from various genres will be studied to see what media production and reception can tell us about cultural constructions of gender and sexuality. The goal of the course is to learn a different way of "seeing" popular culture and a student's own critical relationship to it in order to gain a better understanding of how a range of media construct, maintain, and challenge gender and sexuality "norms."
The course draws on several theoretical perspectives, where students do not have to agree with all or any of them. However, for the purposes of this class students will define "gender" as a series of culturally constructed behaviors that are deemed appropriate for men and women. Students will frequently use the terms "masculine" and "feminine," not to refer to individual men or women, but rather to cultural ideals for the performance of gender roles.
While biology plays a role in human behavior of all kinds, the class will focus on how a biological "given" like sex is shaped by the socio-political demands of a particular culture. Gender is not fixed but is contextual, and deeply impacted by contexts of history, race, and class.
Beginning with the concept of the gaze and what some theorists call the "politics of looking," we will examine issues such as desire, gender, and power through a variety of popular texts. Along the way, students will be produce an in-class group presentation and two directed short papers that will analyze the authors' positions and how they support those positions.
Students will be examining a range of visual media, beginning with what is termed "Classical Hollywood cinema" and moving on to the pin-up (male and female), fashion photography and advertising, men's magazines, pornography, gay and lesbian representation in the movies from the 1980s and 90s, romance novels, horror movies, and Internet-published "fan fiction."
Note: Students should be aware that some of the material covered in the class is of a strong sexual nature.
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