The Rise of Enlightened Sexism: How Pop Culture Took Us from Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild

Women today are inundated with conflicting messages from the mass media: they must either be strong leaders in complete command or sex kittens obsessed with finding and pleasing a man. Here, cultural critic Susan J. Douglas takes readers on a spirited journey through the television programs, popular songs, movies, and news coverage of recent years, telling a story that is the cultural biography of a new generation of American women. Revisiting cultural touchstones from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Desperate Housewives, Douglas exposes these images of women as mere fantasies of female power, assuring women and girls that the battle for equality has been won, so there's nothing wrong with resurrecting sexist stereotypes--all in good fun, of course. She shows that these portrayals not only distract us from the real-world challenges facing women today but also drive a wedge between baby-boom women and their "millennial" daughters.--From publisher description.… (more)