Lexington Books
Pages: 180
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-66692-300-1 • Hardback • January 2023 • $95.00 • (£73.00)
978-1-66692-301-8 • eBook • January 2023 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
Anna Marie Bautista is lecturer in american studies, gender studies, and comparative literature at the University of Hong Kong.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: #MeToo and Conspicuous Feminism: Manifesting Activism and Commercialism
Chapter One: Negotiating Feminism on Television
Chapter Two: Exposing Abuse and Misogyny – Big Little Lies
Chapter Three: ‘Something Other Than A Mother or Housewife’ – Challenging Notions of Gendered Space on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Chapter Four: mIncorporating Intersectionality and Inclusivity – Insecure
Chapter Five: Resistance and Retaliation – The Handmaid’s Tale
Chapter Six: Conclusion: Advocating and Commodifying Female Empowerment in Conspicuous Feminism
Bibliography
About the Author
This timely treatment of prestige TV series from the past decade brings the concerns of the #MeToo movement into conversation with contemporary patterns of conspicuous consumption in the digital age. Using the term "conspicuous feminism," Bautista merges Veblen’s concept of "conspicuous consumption" with Banet-Weiser’s designation of "popular feminism," which emphasizes highly visible political support in the mass media and commodity spheres that ultimately falls short of meaningful challenges to the deeper structures maintaining a status quo of gendered power relations. After a chapter on the televisual history of feminist issues on TV beginning in the 1960s, the book studies the prestige streaming series Big Little Lies, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Insecure, and The Handmaid’s Tale. Bautista meticulously examines the plot and characterization of each show to demonstrate its intervention in feminist politics. Bautista lauds these shows for their commentary on the persistence of gender oppression. However, she worries that the commodification surrounding the shows and their need to appeal to straight, white, middle-class viewers results in a toothless critique that fails to meaningfully challenge the dominant power structures perpetuating all women’s oppression. Recommended. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers.
— Choice Reviews