Imagining Women (Open University U207 Issues in Women's Studies)

"Imagining Women" presents an introduction to the ways in which women have been represented in art, writing and popular culture, and the ways in which women have represented themselves. Exploring the use of language and images, the nature of ideology and the relationship between gender and genre, the authors discuss representation in a variety of different cultural forms, including literature, the visual arts, film, television, pornography, comedy and the theatre. Through the analysis of specific examples, the authors highlight themes which are central to contemporary cultural theory, including the role of the self as creator and active spectator, and the role of feminist criticism in altering traditional frameworks for the production and evaluation of cultural and artistic works.