New Femininities Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity

This volume brings together twenty original essays on the changes and continuities in gender relations and intersecting politics of sexuality, race, class and location. The book is located in debates about contemporary culture at a moment of rapid technological change, global interconnectedness and the growing cultural dominance of neoliberalism and postfeminism. The collection traverses disciplines, spaces and approaches. It is marked by an extraordinarily wide focus, ranging from analyses of celebrity magazines and makeover shows to examinations of the experiences of young female migrants, 'mail order brides' and young women who repudiate feminism. The contributions are united by their attempts to think through the ways in which experiences and representations of femininity are changing in the twenty-first century. Are we seeing new femininities? Are neoliberalism and postfeminism constructing new identities and subjectivities? What kinds of analytic tools and cultural politics are needed to critically engage with the current moment? This book will be of interest to everyone studying gender, media or cultural studies.

ROSALIND GILL is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at the Centre for Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King's College London, UK. She is author of Gender and the Media (2007) and co-editor of Secrecy & Silence in the Research Process: Feminist reflections (2009).

CHRISTINA SCHARFF is Lecturer in Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King's College, London, UK. Her main research interests include gender, sexuality, neoliberalism and postfeminism which she explores from a critical, interdisciplinary and international perspective. Her monograph Repudiating Feminism is forthcoming.

Acknowledgements
Preface
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; C.Scharff & R.Gill
PART I: SEXUAL SUBJECTIVITY AND THE MAKEOVER PARADIGM
Pregnant Beauty: Maternal Femininities under Neoliberalism; I.Tyler
The Right to Be Beautiful: Postfeminist Identity and Consumer Beauty Advertising; M.M.Lazar
Spicing It Up: Sexual Entrepreneurs and The Sex Inspectors; L.Harvey & R.Gill
'(M)Other-in-Chief: Michelle Obama and the Ideal of Republican Womanhood'; L.Guerrero
Scourging the Abject Body: Ten Years Younger and Fragmented Femininity under Neoliberalism; E.Tincknell
PART II: NEGOTIATING POSTFEMINIST MEDIA CULTURE
Are You Sexy, Flirty, Or A Slut? Exploring 'Sexualisation' and How Teen Girls Perform/Negotiate Digital Sexual Identity on Social Networking Sites; J.Ringrose
'Feminism? That's So Seventies': Girls and Young Women Discuss Femininity and Feminism in America's Next Top Model; A.L.Press
Media 'Sluts': 'Tween' Girls' Negotiations of Postfeminist Sexual Subjectivities in Popular Culture; S.Jackson & T.Vares
Is 'the Missy' a New Femininity?; J.Kim
PART III: TEXTUAL COMPLICATIONS
Of Displaced Desires: Interrogating 'New' Sexualities abd 'New' Spaces in Indian Diasporic Cinema; B.Bose
Notes on Some Scandals: The Politics of Shame in Vers le Sud; S.Wearing
The Limits of Cross-Cultural Analogy: Muslim Veiling and 'Western' Fashion and Beauty Practices; C.Pedwell
PART IV: NEW FEMININITIES: AGENCY AND/AS MAKING DO
Through the Looking Glass? Sexual Agency and Subjectification Online; F.Attwood
Reckoning with Prostitutes: Performing Thai Femininity; J.Haritaworn
Migrant Women Challenging Stereotypical Views on Femininities and Family; U.Erel
Negotiating Sexual Citizenship: Lesbians and Reproductive Health Care; R.Ryan-Flood
PART V: NEW FEMINISMS, NEW CHALLENGES
The New German Feminisms: Of Wetlands and Alpha-Girls; C.Scharff
The Contradictions of Successful Femininity: Third-Wave Feminism, Postfeminism and 'New' Femininities; S.Budgeon
Skater Girlhood: Resignifying Femininity, Resignifying Feminism; D.H.Currie, D.M.Kelly & S.Pomerantz
Will These Emergencies Never End? Some First Thoughts about the Impact of Economic and Security Crises on Everyday Life; G.Bhattacharyya
Index