Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster

Anthea Taylor lectures in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Mediating Australian Feminism (2008) and Single Women in Popular Culture: The Limits of Postfeminism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), as well as numerous journal articles in feminist media and cultural studies.

“I highly recommend this empirically rich book which takes the novel approach of adapting a celebrity studies lens to these well-known feminist figures. Celebrity and the Feminist Blockbuster would be suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of celebrity studies, media and cultural studies, feminist and gender studies, and English.” (Kaitlynn Mendes, Celebrity Studies, Vol. 9 (03), 2018)

• Introduction.- 1. ‘Blockbuster’ feminism and celebrification.- Part I: The ‘60s and ‘70s Blockbuster and Ongoing Feminist Stardom.- 2. Helen Gurley Brown: Prototypical celebrity feminism, cultural intermediaries, and self-branding.- 3. Betty Friedan: The ‘Mother’ of feminism self-fashioning, and the celebrity mystique.- 4. Germaine Greer: ‘The Star Feminism Had to Have’, unruliness, and the adaptable celebrity.- Part II: The New Bestsellers, Online Media, and ‘Branding’ Feminism in the 21st Century.- 5. Naomi Wolf: Twitter and The Transformation of A Third- Wave Celebrity.- 6. Sheryl Sandberg and Roxane Gay: The Limits and Possibilities of Contemporary Blockbuster Feminism.- 7. Amy Poehler and Lena Dunham: Celebrity memoirs, comedy, and digital activism.- Conclusion. The Future of Celebrity Feminism: Contemporary Celebrity Culture, The Blockbuster, and Feminist Star Studies