Andrea L. Press – författare

"I just always had this vision of me being ...well, Donna Reed, you know. (Laughter) Donna Reed, only I never had the pearls." This comment is one of the many recorded in this book, a study of how women's views of television and the media relate to their personal stance on abortion. Over four years, Andrea Press and Elizabeth Cole watched television with women, visiting city houses, suburban subdivisions, modern condominiums, and public housing projects. They found that television depicts abortion as a problem for the poor and the working classes, and that viewers invariably referred to class when discussing abortion. Pro-life women from various classes were unified in their rejection of materialist values. Like the woman who identified with Donna Reed minus the pearls, this group strongly believed that a reduced family income was worth the sacrifice in order to stay home with children. Pro-life women also shared a general suspicion of the media as a source of information, turning to science instead to validate their biblically derived worldview. Pro-choice women's beliefs, however, were divided along class lines.Working-class women defended choice because they viewed themselves as a group whose interests are continually threatened by legal authorities. In contrast, middle-class women argued for individual rights and thought abortion necessary for those who aren't financially ready. Many middle-class pro-choice women, the authors argue, share the same point of view as displayed on television. This book seeks to clarify the rhetoric surrounding the abortion debate and allows the reader to hear how ordinary women discuss one of America's most volatile issues.

Media Studies examines the new and rapidly developing field of media studies to discover what insights it has to offer students and general readers as they negotiate their way through the new - and thoroughly saturated - media environment. Explores how recent changes in our media affect the way we watch older media like television, movies, and radio, and offer up rich new interactive media, like video games and the internetThe perfect introduction to the field of media studiesChronicles the recent dramatic changes in communication technologies, arguing that most of life itself is now experienced as 'mediated'Discusses the development of cable and satellite television, VCRs, DVDs, the internet and personal computersEmphasizes the broader political, social, and economic context within which these important new technologies have developed

Unique empirically grounded analysis of how audiences negotiate sexism and feminism across media, from popular television shows to dating apps.Feminism can reflect the cultural moment, especially as media appropriate and use feminist messaging and agenda to various ends. Yet media can also push boundaries, exposing audiences to ideas they may not be familiar with and advancing public acceptance of concepts once considered taboo. Moreover, audiences are far from passive recipients, especially in the digital age. In Media-Ready Feminism and Everyday Sexism, Andrea L. Press and Francesca Tripodi focus on how audiences across platforms not only consume but also create meanings-sometimes quite transgressive meanings-in engaging with media content. If television shows such as Game of Thrones and Jersey Shore and dating apps such as Tinder are sites of persistent everyday sexism, then so, too, are they sites of what Press and Tripodi call "media-ready feminism." In developing a sociologically based conception of reception that encompasses media's progressive potential, as well as the processes of domestication through which audiences and users revert to more limited cultural schemas, Press and Tripodi make a vital contribution to gender and media studies, and help to illuminate the complexity of our current moment.

Unique empirically grounded analysis of how audiences negotiate sexism and feminism across media, from popular television shows to dating apps.Feminism can reflect the cultural moment, especially as media appropriate and use feminist messaging and agenda to various ends. Yet media can also push boundaries, exposing audiences to ideas they may not be familiar with and advancing public acceptance of concepts once considered taboo. Moreover, audiences are far from passive recipients, especially in the digital age. In Media-Ready Feminism and Everyday Sexism, Andrea L. Press and Francesca Tripodi focus on how audiences across platforms not only consume but also create meanings-sometimes quite transgressive meanings-in engaging with media content. If television shows such as Game of Thrones and Jersey Shore and dating apps such as Tinder are sites of persistent everyday sexism, then so, too, are they sites of what Press and Tripodi call "media-ready feminism." In developing a sociologically based conception of reception that encompasses media's progressive potential, as well as the processes of domestication through which audiences and users revert to more limited cultural schemas, Press and Tripodi make a vital contribution to gender and media studies, and help to illuminate the complexity of our current moment.

"I just always had this vision of me being ...well, Donna Reed, you know. (Laughter) Donna Reed, only I never had the pearls." This comment is one of the many recorded in this book, a study of how women's views of television and the media relate to their personal stance on abortion. Over four years, Andrea Press and Elizabeth Cole watched television with women, visiting city houses, suburban subdivisions, modern condominiums, and public housing projects. They found that television depicts abortion as a problem for the poor and the working classes, and that viewers invariably referred to class when discussing abortion. Pro-life women from various classes were unified in their rejection of materialist values. Like the woman who identified with Donna Reed minus the pearls, this group strongly believed that a reduced family income was worth the sacrifice in order to stay home with children. Pro-life women also shared a general suspicion of the media as a source of information, turning to science instead to validate their biblically derived worldview. Pro-choice women's beliefs, however, were divided along class lines.Working-class women defended choice because they viewed themselves as a group whose interests are continually threatened by legal authorities. In contrast, middle-class women argued for individual rights and thought abortion necessary for those who aren't financially ready. Many middle-class pro-choice women, the authors argue, share the same point of view as displayed on television. This book seeks to clarify the rhetoric surrounding the abortion debate and allows the reader to hear how ordinary women discuss one of America's most volatile issues.