Bücher der Reihe Emerald Studies in Popular Culture and Gender

Despite the constant changes in contemporary popular media, the horror genre retains its attraction for audiences of all backgrounds. This edited collection explores modern representations of gender in horror and how this factors into the genre's appeal.

Horror has found a resurgence on television in the post-millennial years. This book will investigate the changing and challenging roles that gender has undergone in TV horror, examining a range of shows, including Hannibal, American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Penny Dreadful, Supernatural, The Exorcist, iZombie, and Bates Motel.

This edited collection focuses on gender and contemporary horror in film, examining how and if representations of gender in horror have changed.

Since its inception, 007 has captured the hearts of a worldwide audience, and the franchise is now available over multiple media platforms, including movie, comic strips, games, graphic novels and fashion statements. This edited collection examines the role that gender has played across the platforms that the James Bond franchise now occupies.

As binge-watching and streaming lead to increasing amounts of content and screen time, understanding how domestic violence and abuse is portrayed in popular culture and its impact on DVA in our society is more important than ever. This collection demonstrates how networked communication is influencing activism, both online and in the real-world.

Although tattoos have become increasingly available to us, there are still spaces where they are not accepted, and even 'othered'. Looking at the UK, where media discourses are often unfavourable towards tattooed women discussing their own bodies, this book explores how we understand tattooed women's bodies in the UK - through the lens of gender and class. Unpacking themes which focus on how femininity is embodied, and how unwritten rules are broken or followed, Charlotte Dann demonstrates how meaning is key to our understanding of female body art. Drawing our attention to how traditional constructions of femininity are conformed to and resisted against, Dann positions media discourses of trends, regret, and transformation alongside tattooed women's own thoughts of their tattoos. The chapters uncover how tattoos relate to the embodiment, or resistance, of femininity where the body plays a complex role - in care, in the community, and in families. Delving into the societal norms about what women should and shouldn't do with their bodies, and looking specifically at motherhood, employment, and consumption, Dann demonstrates how meaning-making is critical to how women's tattooed bodies are understood, and how personal narratives take centre stage in the justification for tattoos. Providing a fuller understanding of the nuances particular to tattooed women, this book equips readers to reconstruct how we theorize femininity and the body.

For every hero, there is a villain, and for every villain there is a story. But how much do we really know about the villain? Filling a gap in the field of gender representation and character evolution, the chapters in this edited collection focus on female villains in the fairy tale narratives of 21st Century media.

Sylvester Stallone's action thriller, First Blood, hit cinema screens in 1982, leading to the cementing of what can be called the Action Movie Canon. With films like Die Hard, Under Siege and Total Recall pioneering post-millennial Action Movies such as Tomb Raider, The Bourne Identity and Atomic Blonde, there is a clear trajectorial line showing that the Action Movie has radically altered to incorporate much more complex portrayals of both 'hero' and 'heroine': the Action Movie Hero.Examining the changing face of Action Movies and their representations of gender since the release of First Blood, Gender and Action Films 1980-2000 examines masculinity and anxiety through subjects ranging from gender spaces in action films to the buddy cop film. From transformative femininity, motherhood and machoism, action women in contemporary Colombian cinema, reconsidering gender in Jurassic Park, to gender, politics and 80s action - the chapters dive into everything from sword-playing and gun-shooting women and rainbow-coloured riots on Hollywood boulevard.Gender and Action Films 1980-2000 offers a comprehensive insight into the intertwined concepts of gender and action, and how their portrayal developed in the Action Movie genre during the final two decades of the twentieth century. A necessity for academics, students and lovers of film and media and those interested in gender studies.

The noughties witnessed rapid change in Action Cinema, carrying with it the new action stars of the previous decade, and the boundary blurring experimentation of films such as The Matrix, that incorporated not only action but science fiction. The now dominant Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debuted, and the Young Adult fictional worlds of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games further developed the scope of the action sequences. Despite this context, the action genre had still not engaged fully with contemporary social issues.Focusing on a less acknowledged period in Action Cinema history, Gender and Action Films: Road Warriors, Bombshells and Atomic Blondes examines specific action stars such as Michelle Rodriguez, Zhang Ziyi, and Pam Grier to analyse how female stars encounter the male gaze. Split into four parts - 'Star Bodies', 'Transmedia Action', 'Intergenerational Action' and 'Politics and Race', chapter authors prioritise female led action movies and champion a more meaningful interaction and representation between the action genre and contemporary issues of race, sexuality, and gender.Offering novel interpretations of depictions of gender within action movies, this edited collection demonstrates gender portrayal can be developed to incorporate meaningful representation in the wake of the movements such as #Oscarssowhite or #MeToo that have confronted Hollywood. The collection is a must-have for academics, students and lovers of film and media and those interested in gender studies.

Lying at the heart of the modern Action Cinema Canon is the concept of transformation. As the action genre evolves and shifts into the new millennia, innovative additions blend with nostalgic returns - the move away from a male-dominated space to feature even more prominent female roles co-exists alongside a revival of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, and series such as Rocky and Rambo return to the screens. Gender and Action Films 2000 and Beyond: Transformations captures and explores the nuanced and complex nature of change within Action Cinema.Dealing with the notion of aging, the chapter authors consider how action heroes confront and cope with getting older. Expanding the foundation of research on geriaction stars, the advantages of mature masculinity contrasts with themes of masculine fragility. Viewing the action genre through a feminist lens, this edited collection traces the evolution of the representation of women, suggesting how such roles may develop in the future. Finally, a consideration of the post-millennial boom of movie backdrops in turmoil analyses how such pieces question and contribute to debates on global political and social issues.Gender and Action Films 2000 and Beyond: Transformations looks at Action Cinema from the old to the new, offering an exciting interrogation of the portrayal of gender in the new millennia. A necessity for academics, students and lovers of film and media and those interested in gender studies.

Drawing on interviews with women and queer tattoo artists from across the US, UK and Australia, this book explores their experiences in what has historically been a male-dominated industry to reveal how tattooing has undergone a 'gender turn' and a subsequent shift in gender relations.